[96] The treasure is said to still be there, but those who approach it drown. Captain Francis DRAKE was born in 1615. [24][23][25], In 1566–1567,Drake made his first voyage to the Americas, sailing under Captain John Lovell on one of a fleet of ships owned by the Hawkins family. By the early 1560s, he had graduated to the African trade, in which the Hawkins family had an increasing interest, and by 1568 he had command of his own ship on a Hawkins venture of illicit slave-trading in the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean. Sir Francis Drake, (born c. 1540–43, Devonshire, England—died January 28, 1596, at sea, off Puerto Bello, Panama), English admiral who circumnavigated the globe (1577–80) and was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age. He’s the eldest among the 12 children of Edmund Drake, a farmer, and Mary Mylwaye, a devoted Protestant. It is believed he was born between 1540 and 1544, based on dates of later events. Drake's men saw weathered and bleached skeletons on the grim Spanish gibbets. For other uses, see. Drake stayed in the area for almost a year, raiding Spanish shipping and attempting to capture a treasure shipment. [20] After Drake's death, the widow Elizabeth eventually married Sir William Courtenay of Powderham. On 26 September, Golden Hind sailed into Plymouth with Drake and 59 remaining crew aboard, along with a rich cargo of spices and captured Spanish treasures. Francis Drake was an illustrious English naval officer, sea captain, slave trader, explorer, and privateer. Francis Drake was born in Ireland and came to America after 1653. On being warned of the approach of the Spanish fleet, Drake is said to have remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards, perhaps because he was waiting for high tide. [38] Meanwhile, Drake was given the task of preventing any Gaelic Irish or Scottish reinforcements reaching the island. Drake's ship had been leading the English pursuit of the Armada by means of a lantern. His name was said to be inherited from his godfather Francis … He then plundered Santiago in the Cape Verde islands after which the fleet then sailed across the Atlantic, sacked the port of Santo Domingo, and captured the city of Cartagena de Indias in present-day Colombia. He spent the time covered by the next two parliamentary terms engaged in other duties and an expedition to Portugal. The swindle continued until a copy of Drake's will was brought to Hartzell's mail fraud trial and he was convicted and imprisoned.[98]. The people of quality dislike him for having risen so high from such a lowly family; the rest say he is the main cause of wars. Birthday. Drake was naturally pleased at his good luck in capturing the galleon, and he showed it by dining with the captured ship's officers and gentleman passengers. Bronze statue in Tavistock, in the parish of which he was born, by Joseph Boehm, 1883. Two of his smaller vessels, having served their purpose as store ships, were then abandoned after their provisions had been taken aboard the others, and on August 21, 1578, he entered the Strait of Magellan. [14], He was the oldest of the twelve sons[15] of Edmund Drake (1518–1585), a Protestant farmer, and his wife Mary Mylwaye. Drake proceeded to enter the churches in fury to sack them and urinate on the goblets. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. From even before his father’s departure, Francis was brought up among relatives in Plymouth: the Hawkins family, who combined vocations as merchants and pirates. Sir Francis Drake. [29][30][31] Whilst negotiating to resupply and repair at a Spanish port in Mexico, the fleet was attacked by Spanish warships, with all but two of the English ships lost. Drake was hailed as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth (and the second such voyage arriving with at least one ship intact, after Elcano's in 1520). [21], In the 1550s, Drake's father found the young man a position with the owner and master of a small barque. Acting on the instructions of Sir Henry Sidney and the Earl of Essex, Sir John Norreys and Drake laid siege to Rathlin Castle. He died from fever, or possibly dysentery associated with the condition, at sea on January 28, 1596, near Portobelo, Panama. A date of c. 1540 is suggested from two portraits: one a miniature painted by Nicholas Hilliard in 1581 when he was allegedly 42, so born circa 1539, while the other, painted in 1594 when he was said to be 52,[13] would give a birth year of around 1541. He made multiple stops on his way toward the tip of Africa, eventually rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and reached Sierra Leone by 22 July 1580. He offloaded his captives a short time later, and gave each one gifts appropriate to their rank, as well as a letter of safe conduct. Remains:Burial at sea, … The series follows Nathan Drake, a self-proclaimed descendant of Drake who retraces his ancestor's voyages. He attempted to attack over land in an effort to capture the rich port of Panamá but was defeated again. [18] The ship's master was so satisfied with the young Drake's conduct that, being unmarried and childless at his death, he bequeathed the barque to Drake.[when?] The expedition was backed by the queen herself. [15] He became a member of parliament during a session of the 4th Parliament of Elizabeth I,[78] on 16 January 1581, for the constituency of Camelford. Early Years. He was born in 1615 at England. Genealogy profile for Francis Drake Francis Drake (1712 - 1713) - Genealogy Genealogy for Francis Drake (1712 - 1713) family tree on Geni, with over 200 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. His birth date is estimated from contemporary sources such as: "Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the Judith" (1566). Drake left the Pacific coast, heading southwest to catch the winds that would carry his ship across the Pacific, and a few months later reached the Moluccas, a group of islands in the western Pacific, in eastern modern-day Indonesia. In the United States Drakes Bay and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard of Marin County, California are both named after him, as well as the high school in San Anselmo, California. He soon added a sixth ship, Mary (formerly Santa Maria), a Portuguese merchant ship that had been captured off the coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands. One of these men was Diego, who under Drake became a free man was also a capable ship builder. It took 16 days to sail through, after which Drake had his second view of the Pacific Ocean—this time from the deck of an English ship. [7] King Philip II of Spain allegedly offered a reward of 20,000 ducats for his capture or death,[8] about £6 million (US$8 million) in modern currency. After the sailors waited three days for convenient tides and had dumped cargo. In 1548, his father, Edmund Drake fled from Devon to Kent. His birth date is estimated from contemporary sources such as: "Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the Judith"[12] (1566). Some call Drake a slave trader since as a young man, he served under his cousin John Hawkins, who led some of the earliest English slaving voyages of the Elizabethan era. …West Indian plantation owners; and Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe (December 13, 1577–September 26, 1580) in search of the riches not only of the East Indies but also of Terra … In Valparaíso, Chile, folklore associates a cave known as Cueva del Pirata (lit. Then he laughed, pulled a necklace of Spanish gold from around his neck and said "Our voyage is made, lads!" Francis Drake was an influential English sea captain, trader, explorer, politician, and privateer of the Elizabethan Era. [97] A large hotel in Union Square, San Francisco also bears his name. Since there is no accurate record of his birth, his date of birth is assumed. Wounded, Le Testu was captured and later beheaded. After an investigation was opened in England to try to clarify the causes of the disaster, Drake, whose behavior was harshly criticized by his comrades in arms, was relegated to the modest post of commander of the coastal defenses of Plymouth, being denied the command of any naval expedition for the next six years. This was perhaps the foundation of Drake’s fortune. Died At Age: 56. This portrait, circa 1581, may have been copied from Hilliard's miniature—note the similar shirt—and the somewhat oddly-proportioned body, added by an artist who did not have access to Drake. In 1567, Drake and his cousin, John Hawkins, were attacked by a Spanish ship in the Gulf of Mexico. At this time Diego died from wounds he had sustained earlier in the voyage, Drake was saddened at his death having become a good friend. Francis Drake Sections. Additionally, the Sir Francis Drake Channel in the British Virgin Islands bears his name. Francis Drake, the eldest son of a farmer, was born near Tavistock, Devonshire, England. A date of c. 1540 is suggested from two portraits: one a miniature painted by Nicholas Hilliardin 1581 when he was allegedly 42, so born circa 1539, while the other, painted in 1594 … [96], Further north in Chile a tale says that because Drake feared falling prisoner to the Spanish he buried his treasure near Arica, these being one of many Chilean stories about entierros ("burrowings").[96]. Francis Drake views the Pacific Ocean for the first time, from a tree on the Isthmus of Panama, illustration from 1906, by T.H. Bronze plaque by Joseph Boehm, 1883, base of Drake statue, Tavistock, Eighteenth century portrait of the Spanish Armada by Philip James de Loutherbourg, Drake taking the surrender of Admiral Pedro de Valdés on the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora del Rosario, — Gonzalo González del Castillo, letter to King Philip II, 1592[91], In 1589, the year after defeating the Armada the English sent their own to attack Spain, Drake and Sir John Norreys were given three tasks: seek out and destroy the remaining ships, support the rebels in Lisbon, Portugal against King Philip II (then king of Spain and Portugal), and take the Azores if possible. Drake's Drum has become an icon of English folklore with its variation of the classic King asleep in mountain story motif. When he was very young (about nine or ten), Francis … By extinguishing this for the capture, Drake put the fleet into disarray overnight. [18], Francis Drake married Mary Newman at St. Budeaux church, Plymouth, in July 1569. [80] He served the duration of the parliament and was active in issues regarding the navy, fishing, early American colonisation, and issues related chiefly to Devon. They buried much of the treasure, as it was too much for their party to carry, and made off with a fortune in gold. Unfortunately, a great many erasures have been made upon it, and the point … #18703. He was nothing if not ambitious, for his aim was to capture the important town of Nombre de Dios, Pan. [6], 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. At the time, the Spaniards had no idea that failing to kill Drake w… This included his incursion into the Pacific Ocean, until then an area of exclusive Spanish interest, and his claim to New Albion for England, an area in what is now the American state of California. [9] An obscure period of Drake’s life follows; he makes almost no appearance in the records until 1577. [88], Over the next month, Drake patrolled the Iberian coasts between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent, intercepting and destroying ships on the Spanish supply lines. "Cave of the Pirate") with Francis Drake. [96] Another version the legend says a treasure was left in the cave because the plunder had been more than he could take on board. Paperback $9.99 $ 9. She died 12 years later, in 1581. They were forced to take refuge in Falmouth, Cornwall, from where they returned to Plymouth for repair.[40]. Elizabeth I knighting Francis Drake, 1580. There Drake's father obtained an appointment to minister the men in the King's Navy. Edmund fled his native county after arraignment for assault and robbery in 1548. [92] Following his death, the English fleet withdrew.[93]. [26] The voyage was largely unsuccessful and more than 90 slaves were released without payment. [72] The Drake family of Crowndale and Buckland Abbey used the same arms but the tail of the wyvern is not nowed (knotted)[77], Sir Francis Drake with his new heraldic achievement, with motto: Sic Parvis Magna, translated literally: "Thus great things from small things (come)". [34][35] (An account of this may have given rise to subsequent stories of pirates and buried treasure). He claimed it was due to religious persecution from his protestant beliefs. [36], When Drake returned to Plymouth after the raids, the government signed a temporary truce with King Philip II of Spain and so was unable to acknowledge Drake's accomplishment officially. Drake was the eldest of 12 sons born to Mary Myllwaye (spelled "Mylwaye" in some cases) and Edmund … The main pieces of evidence against Doughty were the testimony of the ship's carpenter, Edward Bright, who after the trial was promoted to master of the ship Marigold, and Doughty's admission of telling Lord Burghley, a vocal opponent of agitating the Spanish, of the intent of the voyage. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Drake, Royal Museums Greenwich - Biography of Sir Francis Drake, Explorers Pirates and Privateers - Biography of Sir Francis Drake, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Francis Drake, History Learning Site - Biography of Sir Francis Drake, Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Biography of Sir Francis Drake, Francis Drake - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Francis Drake - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). [77], Arms of Sir Francis Drake: Sable, a fess wavy between two pole-stars Arctic and Antarctic argent, Arms of Drake of Ash: Argent, a wyvern wings displayed and tail nowed gules. When Drake finally reached its deck, his men were alarmed at his bedraggled appearance. He was employed as Drake's servant and was paid wages, just like the rest of the crew. The Spaniards took all of their sea vessels, though they allowed Drake and Hawkins to escape with their lives. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. On one side is a state portrait of Elizabeth by the miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard, on the other a sardonyx cameo of double portrait busts, a regal woman and an African male. Born on the Crowndale estate of Lord Francis Russell, 2nd earl of Bedford, Drake’s father, Edmund Drake, was the son of one of the latter’s tenant farmers. [44] In the Magellan Strait Francis and his men engaged in skirmish with local indigenous people, becoming the first Europeans to kill indigenous peoples in southern Patagonia. Drake presented the Queen with a jewel token commemorating the circumnavigation. By 9 August 1573, he had returned to Plymouth. When his men noticed that Drake was bleeding profusely from a wound, they insisted on withdrawing to save his life and left the treasure. He did not actively participate at this point, and on 17 February 1581 he was granted leave of absence "for certain his necessary business in the service of Her Majesty". Drake and his men captured the town and its treasure. Resenting the Spanish authorities’ claims to regulate their colonies’ trade and impound contraband, Drake later referred to some “wrongs” that he and his companions had suffered—wrongs that he was determined to right in the years to come. Although his birth date is not formally recorded, it is known that he was born while the Six Articles were in force. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Sir Francis Drake, (born c. 1540–43, Devonshire, England—died January 28, 1596, at sea, off Puerto Bello, Panama), English admiral who circumnavigated the globe (1577–80) and was the … The Golden Hind sailed north along the Pacific coast of South America, attacking Spanish ports and pillaging towns. Member of the Faculty of Modern History, University of Oxford. Drake was also to confront and attack the Spanish Armada had it already sailed for England. [52][53][54][55][56] On 17 June, Drake and his crew found a protected cove when they landed on the Pacific coast of what is now Northern California. Drake formed an alliance with the Cimarrons. After this passage, the Pelican was pushed south and discovered an island that Drake called Elizabeth Island. In Kent, his father was ordained a deacon and Francis w… J.L., (Ed.) [61] Drake had friendly interactions with the Coast Miwok and explored the surrounding land by foot. Drake was politically astute, and although known for his private and military endeavours, he was an influential figure in politics during the time he spent in Britain. Francis Drake had numerous careers including an English sea captain, a privateer, naval officer and explorer. Therefore, the remaining leader of the Gaelic defence against English power, Sorley Boy MacDonnell, was forced to stay on the mainland. After unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico, he died of dysentery in January 1596. Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon around 1540, the eldest of twelve sons. Born In: Tavistock, Devon. He wrote as follows to Admiral Henry Seymour after coming upon part of the Spanish Armada, whilst aboard Revenge on 31 July 1588 (21 July 1588 OS):[90]. He lived there for fifteen years, until his final voyage, and it remained in his family for several generations. He was buried at sea, supposedly in a lead coffin. Drake's will was the focus of a vast confidence scheme which Oscar Hartzell perpetrated in the 1920s and 1930s. His second voyage to the West Indies, in company with John Hawkins, ended disastrously at San Juan de Ulúa off the coast of Mexico, when the English interlopers were attacked by the Spanish and many of them killed. [18] Drake's father apprenticed him to his neighbour, the master of a barque used for coastal trade transporting merchandise to France. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [94][95] Drake's body has never been recovered. His exact date of birth is debatable. Drake claimed he had sunk 39 ships, but other contemporary sources are lower, specifically some Spanish sources which suggest losses as low as 25 ships. He planned an attack on the Isthmus of Panama, known to the Spanish as Tierra Firme and the English as the Spanish Main. It was then, as he put it, that he “besought Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship in that sea.” He returned to England both rich and famous. Prior to Drake's voyage, the western coast of North America had only been partially explored in 1542 by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who sailed for Spain. Slave Trader & Privateer. A legend says that when Drake sacked the port he became disappointed over the scant plunder. He seized provisions at Valparaíso, attacked passing Spanish merchantmen, and captured two very rich prizes that were carrying bars of gold and silver, minted Spanish coinage, precious stones, and pearls. He died on Sep 24 1687 in Piscataway Twp, Middlesex Co., NJ. He also added its captain, Nuno da Silva, a man with considerable experience navigating in South American waters. [79] He was active in issues of interest to Plymouth as a whole, but also to emphasise defence against the Spanish. After receiving his knighthood Drake unilaterally adopted the armorials of the ancient Devon family of Drake of Ash, near Musbury, to whom he claimed a distant but unspecified kinship. Drake was always a stern disciplinarian, and he clearly did not intend to continue the venture without making sure that all of his small company were loyal to him. [87] The attack became known as the “singeing of the King’s beard” and delayed the Spanish invasion by a year. [33] Drake and the fleet set out from Plymouth on 15 November 1577, but bad weather threatened him and his fleet. [84] When arriving at Cadiz on 19 April, Drake found the harbour packed with ships and supplies as the Armada was readying and waiting for fair wind to launch the fleet to attack. On his voyage to interfere with Spanish treasure fleets, Drake had several quarrels with his co-commander Thomas Doughty and on 3 June 1578, accused him of witchcraft and charged him with mutiny and treason in a shipboard trial. There is a recent local movement to rename the boulevard and the high school because of Drake's slave trader past. [96] However he still found the plunder to be not worth enough to take it on board his galleon, hiding it in the cave. This was the occasion on which he first met the queen face-to-face and heard from her own lips that she “would gladly be revenged on the king of Spain for divers injuries that I have received.” The explicit object was to “find out places meet to have traffic.” Drake, however, devoted the voyage to piracy, without official reproof in England. He went to work for a sea captain at a young … The three remaining ships of his convoy departed for the Magellan Strait at the southern tip of South America. He also served as the mayor of Plymouth, England. It was, therefore, only Drake’s flagship that made its way into the Pacific and up the coast of South America. Drake Jewel, on loan at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, This article is about the Elizabethan naval commander. [79], Drake became a member of parliament again in 1584 for Bossiney[15] on the forming of the 5th Parliament of Elizabeth I. A few weeks later, on 28 January 1596, he died (aged about 56) of dysentery, a common disease in the tropics at the time, while anchored off the coast of Portobelo where some Spanish treasure ships had sought shelter. [57][58] While ashore, he claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion. La situación de la misteriosa Isla Elizabeth de Francis Drake", "El origen, producción y comercio del pisco chileno, 1546-1931", "Sir Francis Drake's body 'close to being found off Panama, "Sir Francis Drake's final fleet 'discovered off the coast of Panama, "Marin petition: Remove Drake sculpture, rename boulevard", Hand-coloured map depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on Saint Augustine, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Sir Francis Drake: A Pictorial Biography by Hans P. Kraus, Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_Drake&oldid=1001838804, English people of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall, Members of the Parliament of England for Plymouth, Articles lacking reliable references from January 2015, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Pages which use embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Articles needing additional references from December 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2008, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from Collier's Encyclopedia, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 January 2021, at 16:30. Drake saw that the time was inauspicious and sailed with a small squadron to Ireland, where he served under the earl of Essex and took part in a notorious massacre in July 1575. He raided the waters around Darien (in modern Panama) with a crew including many French privateers including Guillaume Le Testu, a French buccaneer, and African slaves (Maroons) who had escaped the Spanish. [45], Despite popular lore, it seems unlikely that Drake reached Cape Horn or the eponymous Drake Passage,[44] because his descriptions do not fit the first and his shipmates denied having seen an open sea. [16][17], Because of religious persecution during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, the Drake family fled from Devon to Kent. Cause of death:Fever. At this point, Drake rallied his men, buried the treasure on the beach, and built a raft to sail with two volunteers ten miles along the surf-lashed coast to where they had left the flagship. In 1585, Drake married Elizabeth Sydenham—born circa 1562, the only child of Sir George Sydenham, of Combe Sydenham,[19] who was the High Sheriff of Somerset. The "Drake Jewel", as it is known today, is a rare documented survivor among sixteenth-century jewels; it is conserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He was a weaver and was probably among the group of residents from the Portsmouth, NH area who moved to Piscataway, NJ 1 Notes from Barbara Denahey: The earliest Drake ancestor identified is Captain Francis D r a k e. … She was an actress, known for Mad Love (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936) … He escaped along with John Hawkins, surviving the attack by swimming. Boost. Birthplace. Ferdinand Magellan had called here half a century earlier, where he put to death some mutineers. Drake could not resist a joke and teased them by looking downhearted. [79] Drake likely engaged in commerce among England, the Low Countries and France. In 1595, he failed to conquer the port of Las Palmas, and following a disastrous campaign against Spanish America, where he suffered a number of defeats, he unsuccessfully attacked San Juan de Puerto Rico, eventually losing the Battle of San Juan. [67], Queen Elizabeth awarded Drake a knighthood aboard Golden Hind in Deptford on 4 April 1581; the dubbing being performed by a French diplomat, Monsieur de Marchaumont, who was negotiating for Elizabeth to marry the King of France's brother, Francis, Duke of Anjou. At Cartagena, Drake released one hundred Turks held as slaves. 1572, Drake was born on October 22, 1912 in New York, USA as Dean! Queen, as well as to cause the maximum damage to the appropriate style manual or sources. Rathlin Island massacre in Ireland for repair. [ 41 ] suggest he was second-in-command the. [ 23 ] of dysentery in January 1596 USA as frances Dean only about 100 tons Queen 's half-share the. 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