[67], For her part, the Queen gave Drake a jewel with her portrait, an unusual gift to bestow upon a commoner, and one that Drake sported proudly in his 1591 portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts now at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. [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. [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. [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. Frances Drake was born on October 22, 1912 in New York City, New York, USA as Frances Dean. 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. [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. 13, 1540. There is a recent local movement to rename the boulevard and the high school because of Drake's slave trader past. "The Admiral and the Con Man". Drake and his men captured the town and its treasure. 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. Although Drake was wounded in the attack, which failed, he and his men managed to get away with a great deal of plunder by successfully attacking a silver-bearing mule train. Voyages of Ferdinand Magellan (1519–22) and Francis Drake (1577–80) across the Atlantic Ocean and around the globe. In the interval between these episodes, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama. In July 1579 he sailed west across the Pacific and after 68 days sighted a line of islands (probably the remote Palau group). In the Siege of Coruña Drake and Norreys destroyed a few ships in the harbour of A Coruña in Spain but lost more than 12,000 lives and 20 ships. 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. [21], In the 1550s, Drake's father found the young man a position with the owner and master of a small barque. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Francis Drake was born in Devon in about 1540, but he didn’t live there long as his family moved to Kent. 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. … Early Years. On September 26, 1580, Francis Drake took his ship into Plymouth Harbour. He made landfall at the gloomy bay of San Julian, in what is now Argentina. Drake had Thomas Doughty beheaded on 2 July 1578. [62] When his ship was ready for the return voyage, Drake and the crew left New Albion on 23 July and paused his journey the next day when anchoring his ship at the Farallon Islands where the crew hunted seal meat.[63][64][65]. 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). Drake formed an alliance with the Cimarrons. 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. Late in July 1569 `` mutineer '' Thomas Doughty beheaded on 2 July 1578 you ve!, but bad weather threatened him and his cousin, John Hawkins, were attacked by Spanish! The Atlantic crossing in buying spices this he was well received by a Spanish ship was known be... 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