Thomas Rainsborough
| Colonel Thomas Rainsborough | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1610 Wapping London, England |
| Died |
29 October 1648 (aged 38) Pontefract, Doncaster, South Yorkshire England |
Resting place | St. John's Church , Wapping, London |
| Occupation | Parliamentarian, Leveller, Politician |
| Known for | Political radicalism Levellers |
| Signature |
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Thomas Rainsborough (1610 – 29 October 1648), or Rainborough or Raineborough or Rainborowe or Rainborrowe or Rainbow or Rainsboro, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War, and was the leading spokesman for the Levellers in the Putney Debates.
Life
He was the son of William Rainsborough, a captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and Ambassador to Morocco (for his services to end white slavery he was offered a baronetcy, which he declined).[1] Before the war, Thomas and his brother, William Rainsborowe, were both involved in an expedition to the Puritan Providence Island colony, off the coast of Nicaragua.[2] Rainsborough commanded the Swallow and other English naval vessels in the first civil war.At the outbreak of the English Civil War, Rainsborough was a Roundhead. His portrait shows this clearly as Roundhead's shaved the cranial top of their heads and facial hair, to distinguish them from Cavaliers. By May 1645, he was a Colonel in the New Model Army, taking an active part in the battles at Naseby and at Bristol. Later that year, he captured the symbolic stronghold of Berkeley Castle. In 1646, he helped conclude the Siege of Worcester.
Member of Parliament MP for Droitwich
In January 1647, Rainsborough became a member of parliament for Droitwich, Worcestershire, England.
Putney Debates
He was the highest ranking supporter of the Ranters in the New Model Army and one of the speakers for the Leveller side in the Putney Debates (Oct 1647), where he opposed any deal with the King. He also came with a sense of personal grievance against Oliver Cromwell.[3] This grievance was due to the fact that Rainsborough wanted his soldiers in the Army to have a vote in the new Parliament. His view was that without it their fighting had been for nothing. However this was a new radical idea at the time. No universal suffrage was heard of at this time. Strictly only men of means, of land or property got the vote. Not ordinary people such as soldiers. Another grievance was his ambition to be made Vice-Admiral of the British Navy. Rainsborough was not a popular choice due to his Leveller convictions. However it was Cromwell who finally relented and publicly supported him for the role of Vice-Admiral. Rainsborough's flaghip was the 720-ton English ship Constant Reformation (1619), a ship built in James I time, equipped with forty guns and a crew of 250. While the new Parliament and the Army were at loggerheads as to how to proceed, in Cromwell's new English Republic; King Charles I made a secret deal with Scotland and the Royalists. This led to the Second Civil War more bloodier than the first.
Death and Controversy
In October 1648, Rainsborough was sent by his commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax, to the siege at Pontefract Castle, where he was killed by four Royalists during a bungled kidnap attempt. Cromwell's disfavor, as well as tensions between Rainsborough and the commander he was displacing, Henry Cholmeley, who later defected to the Royalists, led many at the time, and some historians today, to question whether there was some Parliamentary complicity in his death.[4] However Royalist Propaganda may also have played a part in all the rumours.
Funeral 1648
His funeral was the occasion for a large Leveller-led demonstration in London, with thousands of mourners wearing the Levellers' ribbons of sea-green and bunches of rosemary for remembrance in their hats. He was buried in St John's Churchyard Wapping. After his death, his brother, William Rainsborowe continued in the Ranter cause.
Gallery
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Putney Debates Oct 1647
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Rainsborough's Flagship
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Thomas Rainsborough Murdered
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A Print Memorial 1648
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Funeral Service 1648
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St John's Church Wapping
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Plaque installed in Wapping 12 May 2013
In popular culture
Thomas Rainsborough is portrayed by Michael Fassbender in the Channel 4 drama, The Devil's Whore.
He plays a minor but crucial role in Traitor's Field by Robert Wilton, published in May 2013 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books.
Wapping plaque unveiling 2013
The Sealed Knot, the English Civil War re-enactment group, has had a Rainsborough's Company since the early 1980s that honours the memory of Colonel Thomas Rainsborough. It continues today as one of the alternative identities portrayed by the Tower Hamlets Trayned Bandes. In May 2013 it participated in the unveiling of a plaque in memory of Rainsborough at St John's, Wapping.
Notes and references
- ↑ The Medallic History of England
- ↑ The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin, Meaning, and History - by George Fraser Black, Ph.D. (1866-1948)
- ↑ James R. Jacob; Margaret C. Jacob (1984), The Origin of Anglo American Radicalism, New Jersey, USA: Humanities Press, ISBN 0-391-03703-X, 0-391-03703-X
- ↑ Thomas Rainborowe (c. 1610-1648): Civil War Seaman, Siegemaster and Radical by Whitney R.D. Jones (Boydell Press, 2005)
Further reading
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