Mr. Strauch Visits Drakes Beach, Point Reyes

The following information provides basic facts about the life Sir Francis Drake:

• Nationality - English
• Lifespan - 1540 - 1596
• Family - Son of a farmer and preacher
• Sir Francis Drake Naval Career
  • Navigator of a small merchant ship in the 1550's
  • Officer on West African slave ships
  • Sailed to the Caribbean with his cousin John Hawkins
  • Francis Drake was the first to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast of South America
  • Sailed round the World in the ship called the Golden Hind
  • Appointed Vice Admiral of the navy that destroyed the Spanish Armada
• Famous as a seaman, explorer and a pirate, sailing around the World, raiding the Spanish and helping to defeat the Spanish Armada

The following are additional facts

The following are additional facts and timeline about the life and history of Sir Francis Drake:

• Born in Tavistock, in Devonshire
• Francis Drake was the eldest of twelve sons!
• Distant relative of Sir Walter Raleigh
• Drake married Mary Newman before he had acquired wealth or fame in 1569 but she died 12 years later
• In 1572 Queen Elizabeth commissioned Drake as a privateer to sail for the Americas
• Drake was the first to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast of South America. He raided Nombre de Dios, Panama
• He returned to England bringing Spanish gold and plunder
• In 1577 Queen Elizabeth selected him to be the head of an expedition that was to sail around the world
• He re-named his ship from 'The Pelican to the 'Golden Hind'
• In 1579 he stopped near the present-day San Francisco to repair the Golden Hind. He claimed the land for for England which he called New Albion
• 1580 he returned to England
• In 1581 he was knighted Sir Francis Drake on board the Golden Hind by Queen Elizabeth
• He purchased Buckland Abbey in Devon
• In 1585 Drake married Elizabeth Sydenham, some twenty years his junior who came from a wealthy and well-connected family
• 1585: Drake travelled to Brazil accompanied by his nephew Richard Hawkins
• 26 June 1586 - Drake visited Sir Walter Raleigh's colony headed by Ralph Lane, finding disheartened colonists and hostile Indians
• In 1587 Drake attacked and destroyed the Spanish Fleet at Cadiz - referred to as 'Singeing Philip of Spain's beard'
• In 1588 he was appointed Vice Admiral of the navy that destroyed the Spanish Armada
• Famous for finishing a game of bowls whilst waiting for the weather to change before sailing to meet the Spanish Armada
• 1588: Spanish Armada of 132 ships sails for England. England's navy consists of 34 ships and 163 armed merchant vessels
• 1588 Jul 29, The Spanish Armada was sighted off the coast of England
• 1588 Jul 30, The English exchanged fire with the Spanish Armada
• 1588 Aug 8, The English Navy destroys the Spanish Armada
• 1595: Sir Francis Drake embarks on his last voyage to the Caribbean with Sir John Hawkins (who dies of fever on the voyage)
• 1595: Sir Francis Drake was sent to attack Spanish settlements in the West Indies but he also died on the journey home
• 1596 January 28: Sir Francis Drake died on board the Defiance aged about 55
• Sir Francis Drake died of a tropical disease referred to as "the bloody flux" which was probably Yellow Fever
• 1596 January 29: Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea in a lead coffin off Puerto Bello
• Sir Francis Drake had no children
• His title passed to a nephew - also named Francis
• In 1628 the second Sir Francis Drake published the chronicle of the circumnavigation called 'The World Encompassed'

LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION ON POINT REYES AND SIR FRANCES DRAKE

For more information on Point Reyes National Seashore and Sir Frances Drake, click on the links below:

1) Point Reyes National Seashore Website

2) Beaches of Point Reyes (including Drakes Beach)

3) Sir Frances Drake (Wikipedia)

4) Biography of Sir Frances Drake