Francis was born about 1545 in Crowndale Farm, Tavistock, Devonshire, England, the son of Edmond Drake and Elizabeth Hawkins.
He died on 28 JAN 1596 in On Board His Ship Defiance At Portobelo, Panama.
He had two marriages/partners. His first wife was Mary Newman, who he married on 4 JUL 1569 in St Budeaux, Devonshire, England. They had no known children.
His second wife was Elizabeth Sydenham, who he married in 1585 in Monksilver, Somerset, England. They had no known children.
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| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ABT 1545 |
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| Death | 28 JAN 1596 |
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Note 1
!StyleName: Drake, Sir Francis “El Draque, MP [abt 1545 - 1569]
!Source: WikiTree Francis Drake https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Drake-326
Born about 1545 [uncertain] in Crowndale,Tavistock, Devonshire, England
Died 28 Jan 1596 at about age 51 in On Board his ship Defiance at Portobelo, Panama
Sir Francis Drake edit
Son of Edmund Drake and Unknown Drake
Brother of John Drake, Joseph Drake, Edward Drake, Robert Drake, Elizabeth Drake, Elliot Drake, Thomas Drake and Benjamin Drake
Husband of Marye Drake — married 4 Jul 1569 in St Budeaux, Devonshire, England map icon Husband of Elizabeth Courtenay — married 1585 in Monksilver, Somerset, England map icon add/edit spouses
Profile managers: England Project WikiTree and David Rentschler
Biography
Notables Project
Francis Drake is Notable.
Sir Francis Drake was an Elizabethan sailor and navigator, and the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.
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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
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1st marriage 4 July 1569 to Marye Newman at Devonport, St Budeaux, Devonshire, England[2]
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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]
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His will names his wife, Dame Elizabeth, as well as his brother, Thomas Drake, Elizabeth, Thomas' wife and their children Francis and Elizabeth.
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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 Devonshire, gentleman, £2000. The cousin refused these terms and some litigation followed.
Career
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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."
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Sic Parvis Magna, translated literally means, "Thus great things from small things . The hand out of the clouds labelled Auxilio Divino means "With Divine Help."
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In 1580 Sir Francis used some of his wealth to buy Buckland Abbey, a large manor house near Yelverton in Devonshire, from Sir Richard Greynvile. Drake lived there for 15 years, until his final voyage.
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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.
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Appendix: Will of Sir Francis Drake
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Sir Francis Drake of Rockland in the County of Devonshire, Knight. Signed August, 37th Elizabeth, proved 17 May 1596.
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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 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.
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A later will made 28 January, 38th Elizabeth.
I Francis Drake of Rockland Monachorum in the County of Devonshire, 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 Devonshire, 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 Devonshire, 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]
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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 Devonshire, gentleman, £2000. The cousin refused these terms and some litigation followed. Ref. Probate 1596 Drake, Sir Francis, Buckland monachorum, Devon Sentence 48 Drake.[4]
!Source: Wikipedia Francis Drake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake
Born c. 1540
Tavistock, Devonshire, England
Died 28 January 1596
off the coast of Portobelo
Spouses
Mary Newman
Elizabeth Sydenham
Awards Knight Bachelor
Piratical career
Nickname El Draque [1]
Type Privateer
Allegiance Kingdom of England
Years active 1563–1596
Rank Vice admiral
Base of operations Caribbean Sea
Commands
Golden Hind
Bonaventure
Revenge
Battles/wars
See list
Wealth Equiv. US$167.9 million in 2024;[2] #2 Forbes top-earning pirates[3]
Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer and privateer best known for making the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 . He is also known for participating in the early English slaving voyages of his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, and John Lovell. Having started as a simple seaman, in 1588 he was part of the fight against the Spanish Armada as a vice-admiral.
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At an early age, Drake was placed into the household of a relative, William Hawkins, a prominent sea captain in Plymouth. In 1572, he set sail on his first independent mission, privateering along the Spanish Main. Drake's circumnavigation began on 15 December 1577. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, until then an area of exclusive Spanish interest, and laid claim to New Albion, plundering coastal towns and ships for treasure and supplies as he went. He arrived back in England on 26 September 1580. Elizabeth I awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581 which he received aboard his galleon the Golden Hind.
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Drake's circumnavigation inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish and in 1585, the Anglo-Spanish War began. Drake was in command of an expedition to the Americas that attacked Spanish shipping and ports. When Philip II sent the Spanish Armada to England in 1588 as a precursor to its invasion, Drake was second-in-command of the English fleet that fought against and repulsed the Spanish fleet. A year later he led the English Armada in a failed attempt to destroy the remaining Spanish fleet.
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Drake was a member of parliament for three constituencies: Camelford in 1581, Bossiney in 1584, and Plymouth in 1593. Drake's exploits made him a hero to the English, but his privateering led the Spanish to brand him a pirate, known to them as El Draque .[1] He died of dysentery after his failed assault on Panama in January 1596.
Birth and early years
Portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, 1581, inscribed Aetatis suae 42, Ano Dni 1581
1583 portrait of Sir Francis Drake by Jodocus Hondius I
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Francis Drake was born at Crowndale Farm in Tavistock, Devonshire, England.[4] His birth date is not formally recorded – such writers as E. F. Benson have claimed that he was born while the Six Articles of 1539 were in force,[5] but British naval historian Julian Corbett, writing of William Camden's account, on which this information is based, writes that "As a slip of memory, too, we must put down his difficult assertion that Edmund Drake was driven from Devonshire during a persecution under the Six Articles Act of 1539."[6] His birth date is estimated from the wording of texts in contemporary sources such as: "Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the Judith"[7] . This would date his birth to 1544. A date of c. 1540 is suggested from two portraits: one a miniature, painted by Nicholas Hilliard in 1581, when he was allegedly 42, which would place his birth c. 1539, while the other, painted in 1594 when he was said to be 52,[8] would give a birth year of c. 1541.
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He was the eldest of the twelve sons[9] of Edmund Drake , a Protestant farmer, and his wife, Mary Mylwaye. The first son was said to have been named after his godfather, Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford.[10]
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Due to religious persecution during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, the Drake family fled from Devon to Kent. There Drake's father obtained an appointment to minister to the men in the King's Navy. He was ordained deacon and was made vicar of Upchurch Church on the Medway.[11]
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