This article is about the English naval officer and ambassador to Morocco. For his son, the leveller, see William Rainborowe

William Rainborowe

William Rainsborowe , or Rainsborough, Rainborough, Rainborowe or Rainbow, was a Leveller and an officer in the English Navy and New Model Army in England during the English Civil War and the Interregnum...

Sir William Rainsborough (1587?-1642) was an English Captain

Captain (Royal Navy)

Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...

 and Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, English ambassador to Morocco and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 from 1640 to 1642.

On the orders of Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, Rainsborough led a successful naval expedition against the Barbary corsairs

Barbary corsairs

The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...

 of Salé

Salé

Salé is a city in north-western Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town...

 in June 1637. His exploits were hailed in a court masque

Masque

The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...

 designed by Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...

 

For his services to end white slavery

Sexual slavery

Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...

 Rainsborough was offered a hereditary knighthood, which he declined but accepted a non hereditary one instead.

In April 1640, Rainsborough was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh (UK Parliament constituency)

Aldeburgh was a parliamentary borough represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessor bodies.The town was enfranchised in 1571 as a borough constituency...

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

. He was re-elected for Aldeburgh in November 1640 for the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

 and held the seat until his death in 1642.

Rainsborough died in 1642 and was buried at St Katherine by the Tower on 16 February 1642.

Rainsborough married Judith Hrton, daughter of Renold and Joane Horton. Their sons Thomas Rainsborough

Thomas Rainsborough

Thomas Rainsborough , or Rainborough or Raineborough or Rainborowe or Rainbow or Rainborow, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War, and was the leading spokesman of the Levellers in the Putney Debates.-Life:He was the son of William Rainsborough, a captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal...

 and William Rainborowe

William Rainborowe

William Rainsborowe , or Rainsborough, Rainborough, Rainborowe or Rainbow, was a Leveller and an officer in the English Navy and New Model Army in England during the English Civil War and the Interregnum...

, two influential figures in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, fighting for the Roundheads.