Sir Francis DRAKE [5339]

   Find a Grave ID: 8662254.

  General Notes:

Explorer, Naval Officer. The preeminent Elizabethan Era seaman, he was born at Crowndale Farm, near Tavistock, Devon, in southwest England. In 1567 he commanded the Judith in his kinsman John Hawkyns's ill-fated expedition to the West Indies, and returned there several times to recover the losses sustained from the Spaniards, his exploits gaining him great popularity in England. In 1577 he set out with five ships for the Pacific, through the Straits of Magellan, but after his fleet was battered by storm and fire, he alone continued in the Golden Hind. He then struck out across the Pacific, reached the Pelew Is, and returned to England via the Cape of Good Hope in 1580. The following year, the queen visited his ship and knighted him. In 1585 he sailed with 25 ships against the Spanish Indies, bringing home tobacco, potatoes, and the dispirited Virginian colonists. In the battle against the Spanish Armada, which raged for a week in the Channel (1588), his seamanship and courage brought him further distinction. In 1595 he sailed again to the West Indies, but died of dysentery off Porto Bello. He was buried in a lead coffin in the waters off Nombres de Dios.

Bio by: Erik Lander

  Burial Notes:

Buried at Sea

Francis married Mary NEWMAN [5342] [MRIN: 5095] in 1569 in Plymouth, , Devonshire, England. (Mary NEWMAN [5342] died in January 1583 and was buried in January 1583 in Plymouth, , Devonshire, England.)

Francis next married Elizabeth SYDENHAM [5343] [MRIN: 5096] after 1583. (Elizabeth SYDENHAM [5343] was born in 1561 and died on 9 June 1598.)