William Rainsborowe or Rainsborough, Rainborough, Rainborowe or Rainbow, was a Leveller and an officer in the English 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...

 and New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 during the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

 and the Interregnum

English Interregnum

The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...

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

Plymouth Council for New England

The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....

 in North America.

Rainsborowe's birth and early years are obscure, although his father, William Rainsborough

William Rainsborough

This article is about the English naval officer and ambassador to Morocco. For his son, the leveller, see William RainboroweSir William Rainsborough was an English Captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, English ambassador to Morocco and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to...

, was a captain and Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, and later Ambassador to Morocco (at which time he declined a hereditary Knighthood).