Elizabeth Hawkins

Personal and Family Information

Elizabeth was born about 1516, the daughter of Nicholas Hawkins but her mother is unknown. The place is not known.

She died about 1558. The place is not known.

She had three marriages/partners. Her first husband was John Browne, who she married on 19 JAN 1538 in Shorne, Saints Peter & Paul, Kent, England. They had no known children.

Her second husband was John Robertes, who she married on 27 APR 1539 in Barford, Warwickshire, England. They had no known children.

Her third husband was Edmond Drake, who she married in ABT 1544. The place has not been found. Their five known children were Francis “El Draque” (c1545-1596), John (c1549-1572), Joseph (c1553-1573), Edward (c1557-<1566) and Thomas (c1558-?).

Pedigree Chart (3 generations)

Events

Notes

Note 1

Note: Elizabeth Hawkins, daughter of Nicholas Hawkins of Putney and niece of Bishop Nicholas West of Ely, is the most plausible candidate for the oft-cited but undocumented wife of Edmund Drake and mother of Sir Francis Drake. Orphaned young , she married first John Browne in 1538 , then John Robertes in 1539 , and likely wed Vicar Edmund Drake of Upchurch by the early 1540s. This placement fits with traditions noting Francis Drake was raised under his cousin, Sir John Hawkins—making Elizabeth and William Hawkins first cousins. Her subsequent union with fellow orphan Edmund Drake was both practical and personally fitting. Widowed again after the 1539 death of her second husband, she emerges as a figure whose life story helps resolve longstanding inconsistencies and aligns with regional, familial, and generational evidence.

!Source: Kent Marriages And Banns https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=PRS%2FFHS%2FKENT%2FMAR145%2F124140%2FB&tab=this

First name Elizabeth

County Kent

Last name Hawkes

Country England

Role Bride

Supplier Kent Family History Society

Marriage year 1538

Record source West Kent Marriage Index, Shorne marriages 1538-1812

Marriage date 19 Jan 1538

Record set Kent Marriages And Banns

Place Shorne, Ss Peter & Paul

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

Spouse's first name John

Subcategory Parish Marriages

Spouse's last name Browne

Collections from England, Great Britain

!Source: England Marriages 1538-1973 https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=R_860091840%2F2&tab=this

First name Elsabeth

Spouse's first name John

Last name Hawkes

Spouse's last name Browne

Name note -

Spouse's age -

Marriage year 1538

Record set England Marriages 1538-1973

Marriage date 19 Jan 1538

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

Marriage place Shorne

Subcategory Parish Marriages

County Kent

Collections from England, Great Britain

Country England

!Source: Warwickshire Marriages https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=R_21906760799%2F2&tab=this

First name Elizabeth

Spouse's sex Male

Last name Hopkins

County Warwickshire

Sex Female

Country England

Marriage year 1539

Source Warwickshire Marriage Index 1538-1900

Marriage date 27 Apr 1539

Record set Warwickshire Marriages

Marriage place Barford

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

Spouse's first name John

Subcategory Parish Marriages

Spouse's last name Robertes

Collections from England, Great Britain

!Source: Bedfordshire Burials https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=XAUTO%2FFHS%2FBEDFORDSHIRE%2FBUR%2F00105298&tab=this

First name John

Denomination Anglican

Last name Robertes

Repository Bedfordshire Archives

Death year 1541

Document reference Parish Register

Year of burial 1541

Indexno 657008

Burial date 03 Apr 1541

Record set Bedfordshire Burials

Place Houghton Conquest, All Saints

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

County Bedfordshire

Subcategory Parish Burials

Country England

Collections from Great Britain, England

Description All Saints

!Source: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=R_21906760799%2F2&tab=this https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=PRS%2FNORFWILLPROB%2F126804&tab=this

First name John

Document type Will

Last name Roberts Or Robertes

Archive reference ANF will register Liber 11 fo. 333

Title Roberts , John, carpenter, of Sheringham

View source website View source website

Year 1546

Record set Norfolk Wills & Probate

Date 1546

Category Birth, Marriage & Death

Residence Sheringham

Subcategory Wills & Probate

County Norfolk

Collections from Great Britain, England

Country England

!Source: WikiTree Edmund Drake

Born about 1514 [uncertain] in Tavistock, Devonshire, England

Died 26 Dec 1566 at about age 52 in Upchurch, Kent, England

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown] edit

Husband of Elizabeth Drake — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Unknown Drake — married about 1540 in Tavistock, Devonshire, England [uncertain]

Father of John Drake, Joseph Drake, Francis Drake, Edward Drake, Elizabeth Drake, Robert Drake, Elliot Drake, Thomas Drake and Benjamin Drake add/edit children

Biography

…,

There is uncertainty concerning Edmund's Drake's wife. In his will he makes mention of his father Melwaye, possible the same Richard Melwaye to whom he bequeathed his best chair and cushion, or Clement Melwaye who was a witness to his will. This leads to the conclusion that his wife, who was apparently deceased when the will was made, was a daughter of the same Melwaye. There is no evidence as to his wife's first name. There is likewise no evidence that she was a Hawkins as is sometimes stated.

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Of the 12 sons of Edmund Drake mentioned by Stowe only five can be identified by name:

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Sir Francis Drake

John Drake ;

Thomas 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]

!Source: WikiTree Edmund Drake

Born about 1514 [uncertain] in Tavistock, Devonshire, England

Died 26 Dec 1566 at about age 52 in Upchurch, Kent, England

Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown] edit

Husband of Elizabeth Drake — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Unknown Drake — married about 1540 in Tavistock, Devonshire, England [uncertain]

Father of John Drake, Joseph Drake, Francis Drake, Edward Drake, Elizabeth Drake, Robert Drake, Elliot Drake, Thomas Drake and Benjamin Drake add/edit children

Biography

Edmund Drake, vicar of Upchurch in Kent, is best known as the father of Sir Francis Drake.

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Edmund Drake was probably born between 1510 and 1520 at Crowndale in Tavistock, Devon. His parents were John Drake and his wife Margery .

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John Stow , an English chronicler, states of Francis Drake that he was "son of Edmond Drake of Tavistock, saylor", and that " he was the eldest of 12 brethren brought up under his kinsman Sir John Hawkins". Stow's manuscript notes also contain a passage "Fraunces Drake, Knyghte, sone to Sir ______ Drake vickar of Upchurche in Kent".[1]

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Confirmation of Edmund's origins is to be found in a deposition given in 1587 by his nephew John Drake, then a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition. John, son of Robert and Ann Drake of Tavistock was born about 1564. From the age of about 10 he served as a page to his cousin Captain Francis Drake whom he accompanied on his famous circumnavigation of the globe. In 1583 John Drake was given command of a small ship, part of a fleet commanded by Captain Edward Fenton. He had the misfortune to be shipwrecked in South America and eventually fell into the hands of the Inquisition. He was taken to Lima, Peru, where a detailed deposition was taken concerning both his family and his travels with his renowned cousin. Of particular note is his statement that his paternal grandparents were John and Margery Drake of Tavistock and his father's brothers included Edmund Drake the father of Captain Francis Drake.[2]

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Edmund's parents first appear in the records in 1519 when the Abbot of the Monastery of Tavistock granted a lease of lands at Crowndale in Tavistock, then in tenure of Simon Drake, to John Drake, his wife Margery and their son John Drake, the term to commence at the end of Simon's tenure.[3] The subsidy roll for Tavistock in 1524 shows Simon drake rated at £18 and John Drake rated at £5. Simon, with a worth of £18, was among the more affluent inhabitants of the parish.[4] Simon's will was proved at Totnes in 1534.[5]

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By 1546 the lands of the Monastery of Tavistock had come into the possession of Lord Russell who confirmed the original lease to John and Margery and their son John.[6] In the subsidy roll of 1545 we find John Drake 'of Croundel' rated at £20, John Drake junr rated at £5 and Edmund Drake rated at £4.[7] The Drakes had disappeared from Tavistock by 1548, their names no longer appearing in the subsidy rolls.[8]