Arthur Mainwaring Arthur Mainwaring Sir Arthur Mainwaring (c. 1580 – 1648) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1624 to 1626. Mainwaring was the eldest son of Sir George Mainwaring of Ightfield, Shropshire and Ann More, daughter of William More. He was awarded BA from Brasenose College, Oxford on 7 July 1598 and MA on 15 June 1601. He began a rise to prominence working for Sir Thomas Egerton, in whose household he was steward from 1602 to 1617. John Payne Collier published records by Mainwaring relating to a performance of "Othello" for Queen Elizabeth at this
Captain Mainwaring that he is actually of working class origins and his father was a heavy drinker, as is his profligate brother, Barry, who is a travelling salesman specialising in novelty toys. He has many redeeming qualities: he is essentially brave, loyal and industrious, generally kind-hearted beneath the bluster and unfailingly patriotic. Mainwaring believes in following rules and orders, sometimes to a ludicrous degree and is class-conscious and a snob. Being educated at the local Grammar School - as a scholarship student - he considers himself middle class and looks down on anyone he considers beneath him, which may be because he