Who was Francis Drake?
Naval commander and explorer.
Date and Place of Birth:
1540-43, Devon, England.
Family Background:
Son of a Tenant Farmer and Protestant Preacher
on the Crowndale Estate of Lord Francis Russell, Second Earl of
Bedford.
Education:
Within family and then went to sea at age of
thirteen.
Chronology/Biography of Sir Francis Drake:
1553?: Works on
coastal ships.
1565: Now engaged
in longer voyages to Guinea and the Spanish Main.
1567: Took command
of the ship "The Judith" and went with Sir John Hawkins
to the Gulf of Mexico but the expedition was not a success.
1571: Sailed on
to the West Indies to try and recoup his losses which he had made
to the Spaniards.
1572: He gained
a privateer's licence from Queen Elizabeth the First and sailed
with two small ships the "Pasha" and the "Swan"
and plundered Spanish ships of Pananma.He became a legend back in
England. It is said he was the first Englishman to see the Pacific
Ocean.
1573: Returned to
Plymouth a hero.
1577: Set out with
five ships to explore the Strait of Magellan. He changed his ship's
name en route to "The Golden Hind". After tremendous storms
in which one ship the "Marigold" was lost and one "The
Elizabeth " was forced to return home he sailed alone northward
to Vancouver but failed to find a North West passage into the Atlantic.
He turned South again and sailed across the Pacific for 68 days
without sighting land. Made his first landfall in Java.
Replica of the Golden Hinde at Saint Mary's Over Dock,
Cathedral Street, Southwark
(© Anthony Blagg)
1580: (September)
Finally reached England once more via the Cape of Good Hope and
was hailed as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world.
Queen Elizabeth visited him at Deptford despite Spanish Protests
and gave him a knighthood.
1585: Sailed again
to plunder Hispaniola and the Coast of Florida. He brought home
with him some dispirited colonists as well as potatoes and tobacco.
1587: Pillaged the
Spanish port of Cadiz.
1588: Took a large
part in fighting the Spanish armada in the English Channel under
the lead of Vice Admiral Charles Howard. He captured the Spanish
Galleon "Rosario"
1589: He sailed
to aid the Portuguese against Spain but was unsuccessful.
1596: Was taken
ill on an expedition with Sir John Hawkins to the West Indies.
Marriage:
1. July 4, 1569: To Mary Newman, who was buried
January 25, 1582-3, in Saint Bordeaux.
2. Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir George Sydenham of Combe
Sydenham, Somerset.
Date and Place of Death:
28th January 1596, Died at sea off Puerta Bella,
Panama.
Age at death:
56.
Site of Grave:
Buried at sea.
Places of Interest:
DEVON:
The Hoe, Plymouth.
Buckland Abbey, Yelverton, PL2 0EY. (treasures).
LONDON:
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
The Golden Hinde Educational Museum, Saint Mary's Over Dock, Cathedral
Street, Southwark.
SOMERSET:
Combe Sydenham Country Park, Monksilver, Taunton.,
TA4 4JG.
