Sir Francis Drake is best known for his victory against the Spanish Armada during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. But his legacy is for more than that – he successfully raided many Spanish ships leading to increased wealth for England.
Little is known of Drake’s early life – even the year of his birth is disputed although it is around 1540. He was born in Tavistock, Devon where his grandparents had a 180 acre farm leading to a good lifestyle for the Drakes. Some believe Drake’s father Edmund was a sailor. Edmund was a Protestant and may be been a victim of the counter-reformation under the reign of ‘Bloody Mary’. It may be for this reason the Drakes moved to Kent, where they lived in an old ship’s hull. Edmund became a preacher largely to sailors, these men and their stories having a strong influence on Francis.Drake became an apprentice on a small coastal freighter. When the owner died leaving no relations he passed the ship onto Drake.
In 1569 Drake married Mary Newman. They had no children and in 1581 she died. He remarried in 1585 to Elizabeth Sydenham who herself came from a wealthy background, and moved into Buckland Abbey, Devon.
In 1577 Drake set sail on his circumnavigation of the world, which he completed in 1580. By doing this he became famous in England.
Drake’s attacks on Spanish bullion ships, sinking many and stealing the treasure from others, led the Spanish to consider him a pirate, naming him El Draque which translates as The Dragon. While this was sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth she had to officially rebuke Drake in order to prevent war with Spain.
Drake’s most famous exploit was in attacking the Spanish Armada. Initially in 1587 he attacked the ships being built for it in Cadiz harbour, then in 1588 led the attack which led the Spanish to scuttle using fire ships. His fame from this was larger then even the commander of the English Navy Lord Howard of Effingham thanks to this exploit. Drake is also credit for training sailors in broadside attacks learnt from his earlier attacks on Spanish bullion ships but changed so rather than boarding the enemy ships they would fire upon them.
Drake died on January 28th 1596 in the Caribbean while attacking the Spanish, a venture that was not going successfully this time. Drake received a sailor’s burial at sea in a lead coffin near Puerto Bello in modern day Panama.
