14 Facts About Henry Mainwaring

Sir Henry Mainwaring, was an English lawyer, soldier, writer, seaman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622.

Henry Mainwaring was for a time a pirate based in Newfoundland and then a naval officer with the Royal Navy.

Henry Mainwaring supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.

Henry Mainwaring then served as trial lawyer, soldier, sailor, and author before turning to piracy.

In 1610, at the age of 24, Henry Mainwaring was given a commission from Lord High Admiral Nottingham to capture the notorious Newfoundland "arch-pirate" Peter Easton, then feared to be hovering around the Bristol Channel.

On reaching the Straits of Gibraltar, Henry Mainwaring announced to his crew his intention of fighting the Spanish anywhere he found them.

Henry Mainwaring used Easton's old base at Harbour Grace, Canada, as his pirate base and raided Spanish, Portuguese, and French ships.

In taking seamen, Henry Mainwaring would pick one out of every six.

Henry Mainwaring was unsurpassed in nautical skill for fighting his ship, for his mode of boarding and resisting the enemy.

Henry Mainwaring wrote a book on piracy, the manuscript of which is in the British Museum.

Henry Mainwaring advises the King against granting pardons to pirates.

Henry Mainwaring married a daughter of Sir Thomas Gardiner in 1630.

Henry Mainwaring's brothers were Sir Arthur Mainwaring, Carver to Prince Henry, George Mainwaring, the defender of Tong Castle, and Sir Thomas Mainwaring, the Recorder of Reading.

The Henry Mainwaring family was old and distinguished, probably having arrived in England in the reign of William the Conqueror.