Captain William Rainsborough (11 June 1587 – 16 Feb 1642) was an English
Captain and
Vice-Admiral in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
,
English ambassador to Morocco and politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
from 1640 to 1642.
Naval expeditions
On the orders of
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...
, Rainsborough led a successful naval expedition against the
Barbary corsairs of
Salé
Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran, ...
in North West
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
in June 1637. His exploits were hailed in a court
masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...
designed by
Inigo Jones For his services to end
white slavery
White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the slavery of Europeans, whether by non-Europeans (such as West Asians and North Africans), or by other Europeans (for example naval galley slaves or the Vikings' t ...
Rainsborough was offered a hereditary
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
, which he declined, and was presented with a Gold Chain and Medal by Charles I.
Captain Rainsborough's Emblem was a Saracen's head crest. The
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
Head as interpreted as 'the head of the foreigner'; the foreigner being the much-feared pirates of the north African coast. Usually referred to as Turks, these marauders were in the white slavery business. This emblem represented Captain Rainsborough's success at ending White Slavery against the
Barbary pirates in Morocco in 1637.
MP for Aldeburgh Suffolk 1640
In April 1640, Rainsborough was elected
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the international Alde ...
in the county of
Suffolk in the
Short Parliament. He was re-elected for Aldeburgh in November 1640 for the
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
and held the seat until his death in 1642.
Death 1642
Rainsborough died in 1642 and was buried at
St Katharine's by the Tower on 16 February 1642.
Father of Thomas Rainsborough
Rainsborough married Judith Horton, daughter of Renold and Joane Horton. Their sons
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
were political and religious radicals, both of whom fought for
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...
.
Gallery
File:London Bridge (1616) by Claes Van Visscher.jpg, London Bridge in 1630s England
[Rainsborough,Captain William]
"1. Rainsborough, Col William (Charlestown, Mass, 1639)"
London,14 October Retrieved 14 October 2014.
References
Further reading
*
*
Ambassadors of England to Morocco
1642 deaths
Royal Navy admirals
17th-century Royal Navy personnel
English MPs 1640 (April)
English MPs 1640–1648
17th-century English diplomats
Year of birth unknown
1587 births
People from Whitechapel
Military personnel from London
{{17thC-England-MP-stub