Major William Rainsborowe (? – '' fl.'' 1612–1673), or Rainborowe, was an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

in the

English 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 Fra ...

and New Model Army in England during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

and the Interregnum. He was a political and religious radical who prospered during the years of the Parliamentary ascendancy and was an early settler of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

in North America.

Life

Rainsborowe's birth and early years are obscure. William's brother was the Leveller

Thomas Rainsborough Thomas Rainsborough, or Rainborowe, 6 July 1610 – 29 October 1648, was an English religious and political radical who served in the Parliamentarian navy and New Model Army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. One of the few contemporaries wh ...

so it is more than certain he was born in

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

London England. His father, William Rainsborough, was a 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 ...

, and later Ambassador to Morocco (at which time he declined an 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 ...

). In later years William held Property in Wapping and

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has mea ...

London. He also had a home in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

London, as his brother Thomas stayed there during the Putney Debates of 1647. William Rainsborowe was educated in Magdelene College, Cambridge

Life in New England

William moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s with his sisters, at one point living in CharlestownThe Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin, Meaning, and History
– by George Fraser Black, PhD (1866–1948) and was serving in the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

there in 1639. At some point, William and his brother,

, were both involved in an expedition to the other Puritan colony,

Providence Island colony The Providence Island colony was established in 1630 by English Puritans on what is now the Colombian Department of San Andrés and Providencia, about east of the coast of Nicaragua. Although intended to be a model Puritan co ...

, off the coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. Providence Island fell to the Spanish in 1641.

Return to England in 1642

Rainsborowe was called back to England upon the death of his father in 1642. He married a woman named Margery Jenney of Suffolk upon his return and almost immediately went to serve in the Navy. When war broke out in Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, he was part of an expedition there. He subsequently became an officer in a cavalry unit in 1644. He and his brother,

, were both Levellers and probably members of the congregationalist churches known at the time as "Independents" (who were generally more militantly anti-Catholic and opposed to the Established Church than the Puritans).

The Battle of Naseby and The Putney Debates

He fought in The Battle of Naseby on 14 June 1645 alongside his brother Colonel

. In the New Model Army, he was a Captain serving for Colonel Thomas Sheffield as seen in the Naseby order of battle. However, his radicalism emerged early. In May 1647 in

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

Essex at a meeting with Parliamentary commissioners, he testified against Colonel Sheffield. Rainsborowe stated that the army was demoralised. He then outlined the complaints of his men. The army did not support their Colonel and Sheffield was afterwards removed. Rainsborowe was then promoted to the rank of Major under Colonel Thomas Harrison. The Saffron Walden Debates of May 1647 are considered the prelude to the Putney Debates of October 1647. In these debates the army wanted certain rights and freedoms. These debates and a

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641� ...

(1648–1649) would lead to the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execu ...

(1649–60) when England became a Republic. Rainsborowe showed his Leveller convictions during the army's

Putney Debates The Putney Debates, which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament's victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War. The main participants were ...

at the end of October. William's brother, Thomas Rainborowe, was more fiery in his Leveller speeches, and he was murdered by

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

in a bungled kidnap attempt in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

in October 1648. William led the funeral, and a pamphlet called ''The Second Part of Englands New Chaines Discovered'' of that year discussed Rainsborowe's attempts at finding justice and the resistance of the upper classes. William Rainsborowe's cornet, according to the ''Dictionary of National Biography,'' was, during this time, a depiction of the severed head of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and the motto ''salus populi: suprema lex'' ("let the good of the people be the supreme law").Pestana, Carla Gardina. "William Rainborowe." In Matthew, H. C. G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

.'' vol. 45, 814–15. London:

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004.

Radicalism and controversy

In 1649, when issues surrounding the Leveller movement were at a head, Rainsborowe was removed from command. He was recommended for promotion twice in the 1650s, and each time the recommendation was over-ruled by the government. He hosted

Ranters The Ranters were one of a number of dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the English Commonwealth (1649–1660). They were largely common people and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and ...

meetings, and he was arrested for paying for the publication of

Laurence Clarkson Laurence Clarkson (1615–1667), sometimes called Claxton, born in Preston, Lancashire, was an English theologian and accused heretic. He was the most outspoken and notorious of the loose collection of radical Protestants known as the Ranters. ...

's ''The Single Eye'' (1650). During the 1650s, Rainsborowe put his religious and political views into economic action. He purchased ecclesiastical lands, and he purchased the formerly

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...

of Higham Park now

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated popula ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. Rainborowe's wealth was extensive, for the estate was sold for £5,498 in 1654.

Arrest for treason

The

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" ...

made him a

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and had him raise a regiment in 1659, but the Rump itself was dissolved and overturned. Rainsborowe protested against this by signing ''A Remonstrance and Protestation of the Well-Affected People''. Rainsborowe tried to sell the arms he had purchased for his militia. A political radical selling a great store of pistols just in the midst of a change from republicanism to a restored Monarchy and Crown was extremely provocative. This prompted his arrest on suspicion of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in December 1660. This at the time of the Restoration. He was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

in December 1660, and then released on bail in February 1661. Major Rainsborowe joins a long

List of prisoners of the Tower of London From an early stage of its history, one of the functions of the Tower of London has been to act as a prison, though it was not designed as one. The earliest known prisoner was Ranulf Flambard in 1100 who, as Bishop of Durham, was found guilty o ...

Tower of London viewed from the River Thames

Death

Upon release on bail Rainsborowe left England. He does not enter public record again until his death in 1673 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Images

File:1792 reproduction map of the Battle of Naseby.jpg, The Battle of Naseby June 1645 File:St Marys Church, Saffron Walden.jpg, Saffron Walden Debates May 1647 St Mary's Church File:Ranters_Publication.jpg, Anti Ranter Publications 1650

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainsborowe, William Levellers New Model Army personnel Roundheads People of colonial Massachusetts 1673 deaths Year of birth unknown Prisoners in the Tower of London 1612 births