Francis Drake
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Francis Drake (abt. 1545 - 1596)

Sir Francis Drake
Born about in Crowndale,Tavistock, Devon, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 4 Jul 1569 (to 1582) in St Budeaux, Devon, Englandmap
Husband of — married 1585 in Monksilver, Somerset, Englandmap
Died at about age 51 in On Board his ship Defiance at Portobelo, Panamamap
Profile last modified | Created 1 Oct 2010
This page has been accessed 32,604 times.
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Francis Drake is Notable.
Sir Francis Drake was an Elizabethan sailor and navigator, and the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

Sir Francis Drake, the celebrated admiral in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, was a son of Edmund Drake, vicar of Upchurch in Kent. His pedigree may be found in Vivian's Devonshire Pedigrees, page 299. [1]

Family and Residence

1st marriage 4 July 1569 to Marye Newman at Devonport, St Budeaux, Devon, England[2]

His will states that is is of Buckland Monachorum in the County of Devon and describes himself as "Knight, General of Her Majesty’s Fleet, now in service in West Indies." [1]

His will names his wife, Dame Elizabeth, as well as his brother, Thomas Drake, Elizabeth, Thomas' wife and their children Francis and Elizabeth.

The will also names his cousin, Francis Drake, son of Richard Drake, of Esher in the County of Surrey. The will bequeathes one manor to his cousin Francis, but only if the cousin pays his brother, Thomas Drake of Plymouth in the County of Devon, gentleman, £2000. The cousin refused these terms and some litigation followed.

Career

His success as a sea captain earned him a reputation as a brilliant privateer in England. These profitable voyages included marauding expeditions against the Spanish, England's archenemy at the time. These exploits earned him a reputation as a pirate in Spain.
Drake first sailed with his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, who led a fleet of ships owned by Drake's relatives, the Hawkins family of Portsmouth. Together they made one of the first slave-trading expeditions, bringing forcibly abducted Africans to the New World and selling them into slavery. On one of these trips, a Spanish squadron trapped and attacked the fleet; only two ships survived the attack. Drake and his cousin, Hawkins managed to escape, and the Spanish became Drake's lifelong enemies.
After a number of successful voyages, Queen Elizabeth I secretly commissioned Drake to go on an expedition against the Spanish Colonies on the Pacific Coast of America. In the course of this expedition, from 1577--1580, Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth, and the second such trip to return with at least one ship intact.
In April 1581, Queen Elizabeth I knighted Drake aboard his flagship, the Golden Hind. Drake then adopted the armorials of Sir Bernard Drake, claiming they were related. Sir Bernard refuted Sir Francis's claim of kinship and right to bear his family's arms. Queen Elizabeth I stepped in to smooth things over, awarding Sir Francis his own coat of arms described in John Prince's 1697 Worthies of Devon as follows:
Sable a fess wavy between two pole-stars [Arctic and Antarctic] argent; and for his crest, a ship on a globe under ruff, held by a cable with a hand out of the clouds; over it this motto, Auxilio Divino; underneath, Sic Parvis Magna in the rigging whereof is hung up by the heels a wivern, gules, which was the arms of Sir Bernard Drake."
Sic Parvis Magna, translated literally means, "Thus great things from small things (come). The hand out of the clouds labelled Auxilio Divino means "With Divine Help."
In 1580 Sir Francis used some of his wealth to buy Buckland Abbey, a large manor house near Yelverton in Devon, from Sir Richard Greynvile. Drake lived there for 15 years, until his final voyage.
Conflicts with Spain finally escalated into war. In 1588, Drake was vice admiral in command of the English fleet that defeated the mighty Spanish Armada. After this crowning achievement of his seafaring career, Drake's 1595 campaign against Spanish America was disastrous. He suffered several defeats, including losing the Battle of San Juan. Spanish gunners from El Morro Castle shot a cannonball through the cabin of Drake's flagship. He survived that attack, but a few weeks later, in January 1596, he died of dysentery while anchored off the coast of Protobelo, Panama. His cousin, John Hawkins, died at the same time. Both men were then buried at sea.

Appendix: Will of Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake of Rockland in the County of Devon, Knight. Signed August, 37th Elizabeth, proved 17 May 1596.

Being now called unto action by her majesty wherein I am to hazard my life as well in the defense of Christ’s Gospell as for the good of my Prince and County. To the poor people of the town and parish of Plymouth forty pounds. To Dame Elizabeth, my wife, furniture, etc. in my mansion house of Buckland and (a certain estate) for life: then to my brother Thomas Drake. To Thomas also, a certain messuage or tenement in the High Street, within the Borough of Plymouth, now and in the tenure or occupation of the said Thomas, to hold for four score and ten years, if the said Thomas Drake, Elizabeth his wife, and Francis and Elizabeth, their children or any of them, so do happen to live.
A later will made 28 January, 38th Elizabeth.
I Francis Drake of Rockland Monachorum in the County of Devon, Knight, General of her Majesty’s Fleet, now in service for the West Indies. To my well beloved cousin, Francis Drake, son of Richard Drake, of Eshire in the County of Surrey, Est, one of the Quiries of her majesty’s stable, my manor of Yarckombe in the County of Devon, etc., forever. The said Richard Drake and Francis Drake, his son, their heirs executors or administrators, to pay or cause to be paid unto Thomas Drake of Plymouth in the County of Devon, gentlemen, two thousand pounds within two years after my decease. To James Bodenham, gentleman, my manor of Sampford Spyney in Devon. My said brother Thomas Drake to be executor. The former will shall stand. Proved by Francis Clarke, Not. Pub., procurator of Thomas Drake, brother and executor of the deceased. [Signed ] Drake, 1. [1][3]

His will proved 17 May 1596 states that he is of Rockland Monachorum in the County of Devon and describes himself as "Knight, General of Her Majesty’s Fleet, now in service in West Indies." His will names his wife, Dame Elizabeth, as well as his brother, Thomas Drake, Elizabeth, Thomas' wife, and their children Francis and Elizabeth. The will also name's his cousin, Francis Drake, son of Richard Drake, of Esher in the County of Surrey. The will bequeaths one manor to his cousin Francis, but only if the cousin pays his brother, Thomas Drake of Plymouth in the County of Devon, gentleman, £2000. The cousin refused these terms and some litigation followed. Ref. Probate 1596 Drake, Sir Francis, Buckland monachorum, Devon Sentence 48 Drake.[4]

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters. Will of Sir Francis Drake, Knight, in Genealogical Gleanings in England, Volume 1. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1901, pp 578-579.Genealogical Gleanings in England, Volume 1
  2. Image of marriage in the church register https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939N-QW9R-MM?i=84&cc=1804330&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AKC9G-ZRK
  3. Wills in full, in Wills from Doctors Commons, ed. John Gough Nichols, p. 72.
  4. Probate 1596 Drake, Sir Francis, Buckland monachorum, Devon Sentence 48 Drake.

See also:

  • Wikipedia: Francis Drake
  • Wikidata: Item Q36517, en:Wikipedia help.gif
  • Harry Kelsey. 'Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596)'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Published in print: 23 September 2004. oxforddnb.com. Accessed 26 Apr 2021.
  • Dennis, Yvonne Wakim and Hirschfelder, Arlene, A Kid's Guide to Native American History, pg 157, Chicago Review Press, 2010
  • Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (London: St. Catherine Press, 1910.), 4:333, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.721 C682.
  • Stephen, Sir Leslie & Sir Sidney Lee (Editors), The Dictionary of National Biography: From the Earliest Times to 1900 (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1993.), 5:1331-46, Family History Library, 920.042 D561n 1993.
  • "Elizabeth: July 1586, 1-15," in Calendar of State Papers Foreign: Elizabeth, Volume 21, Part 1, 1586-1588, ed. Sophie Crawford Lomas (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1927), 36-53. British History Online, accessed April 4, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/foreign/vol21/no1/pp36-53.
  • Rowe, Joshua Brooking, Contributions to a History of the Cistercian Houses of Devon (Plymouth: W. Brendon and Son, 1878.), p. 38, Library of Congress, BX3417.D5 R7.
  • British Broadcasting Corporation, History. Sir Francis Drake Accessed 21 April 2014.
  • Drake, Samuel G., M.A. Passengers of the Golden Hind, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1847) Vol. 1, Page 127-131
  • Great Lives - Francis Drake by Neville Williams, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1973 Call #DA 86.22 D7 W5 - pages 135, and 221.
  • John Nichols's The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth
  • Fuller-Eliott-Drake, Elizabeth (Douglas), Lady. 'The family and heirs of Sir Francis Drake'. London : Smith, Elder, 1911. archive.org. Accessed 26 Apr-2021.




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Comments: 10

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A category for Roanoke Colony has just been created. I think it would be appropriate for this profile. See Category: Roanoke Colony and the companion space page. Let me know if you think his role regarding the colony was too small to warrant including him in the category, otherwise I'll add it (or you can).

Thanks!

posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Hello Profile Managers!

We are featuring this profile in the Connection Finder this week. Between now and Wednesday is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can.

Thanks!

Abby

posted by Abby (Brown) Glann
Hello David and Joseph, the England Project would like to co-manage this profile with you due to Sir Francis' historical significance for England. You are welcome to stay on as either a PM or on the Trusted List. Would you please add

to the trusted list, and then set the England Project as a manager. You can read more about the England Project's managed profiles here https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:England_Project_-_Project_Protected_Profiles.

Thank you, Jo Fitz-Henry England Project Managed Profiles Team coordinator

posted by Jo Fitz-Henry
Drake should be included in the category of slave traders. He engaged in this enterprise with his cousin, Admiral Sir John Hawkins.
posted by Leila (Phelps) Schutz
Source: Dennis, Yvonne Wakim and Hirschfelder, Arlene, A Kid's Guide to Native American History, pg 157, Chicago Review Press, 2010
posted by Lisa (Kelsey) Murphy
Lady Elizabeth (Sydenham) Drake, the 2nd wife of Sir Francis Drake, is a cousin of Admiral, Sir John Hawkins, via our family line from Devon, England.
posted by [Living McClenaghan]
I have edited the 'Plymouth' category to show 'Plymouth, Devon', as this already exists

Ros, visiting from the Categorization Project

posted by Ros Haywood
The Issue of the Drakes' Descendants

Extensive research has been conducted by Drake society member Susan Jackson on Drake's family tree. Therefore, we are prepared to assist the serious researcher in this area. However, we wish to emphasise our opposition to those claiming to be descended from Sir Francis Drake. Our view is based upon the following facts.

It is impossible for anybody to be descended from Sir Francis Drake. Although he was married twice, he did not produce any children. Furthermore, there is no evidence whatsoever, of any illegitimate issue. Descent from his brother Thomas could be possible but highly remote. Thomas only fathered two children and the direct male line died out in the 18th century. continued http://www.indrakeswake.co.uk/Society/descendants.htm

STOP! You are not related to Sir Francis Drake. Someone in your family was a victim of a genealogy scam in the early 1900's, see http://www.coryfamsoc.com/articles/francis_drake_hoax.html
Source: The History of the Drake Family and the Times They Lived

terrywdrake.com

posted by [Living Drake]