Exploring the Life of Sir Francis Drake - Tudor Corsair

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1564: Devon sailor Francis Drake sets out on a journey of adventure. He learns of routes used to transport Spanish silver and gold, and risks his life in an audacious plan to steal a fortune.

I’d been planning an Elizabethan series for some time, as my aim was to tell the stories of the Tudors from Owen Tudor’s first meeting with Queen Catherine of Valois through to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. I decided to show the fascinating world of the Elizabethan court through the eyes of the queen’s favourite courtiers, starting with Francis Drake. I soon discovered much I thought I knew about Drake was wrong, and have enjoyed tracking down primary sources to uncover his true story. Here are some of the less well know facts of his life:

“Winter’s Bark” – An Early Scurvy Cure

When Drake’s fleet entered the Pacific in 1578, scurvy threatened his crew. Amazingly, they found a cure far from home. While overwintering in Patagonia, Drake’s sailing master William Winter noticed local people eating the bark of an evergreen tree (later named Drimys winteri, “Winter’s bark”). Winter traded for some bark and distributed it as a drink to the men. 

Remarkably, almost no one fell ill, and deaths from scurvy were negligible during the entire three-year circumnavigation. This discovery predated James Lind’s famed lemon juice cure by 160 years. Drake’s voyage provided one of the first well-documented European accounts of a working antidote, often overlooked in popular accounts of his voyages.

Loot from the São Filipe Fouhding the East India Company

In the 1587 raid on Cádiz, Drake captured a Portuguese carrack named São Filipe. Besides gold and silks, this ship carried documents detailing the lucrative Asian spice trade. These seized papers, describing Portuguese routes and trade in the East Indies, proved invaluable to English interests. 

The First Fleet of the East India Company departing from Woolwich in 1601.

(Wikimedia Commons

Years after Drake’s raid, these documents would be used as the basis for the founding of the East India Company. Intelligence won by his 'privateering' helped launch England’s empire in India and beyond. This connection between Drake’s spoil and the East India Company is rarely mentioned but appears in both English and Spanish sources.

Chinese Pilots: Navigators of the Pacific

During the same 1578–80 circumnavigation, Drake’s men entered the Pacific and plundered coastal Mexico (New Spain). In March 1579, one of his smaller boats captured a Spanish vessel. That prize proved extraordinary, as the English found nautical charts and two Chinese pilots on board who knew the Pacific waters. These charts and men offered Drake hard intelligence on Spanish trade with Asia.

Drake Crowned King of New Albion

On 17 June 1579, Drake made landfall on the Pacific coast of present-day Northern California. He called the territory “Nova Albion” (“New Britain”) and laid claim to it for England. What few know is the astonishing moment of formal submission: according to Drake’s own chaplain Francis Fletcher, a large assembly of local Coast Miwok people brought gifts and regalia to Drake. 

They placed a white feathered crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand as if he were being proclaimed king. Drake then anchored an engraved plate in the soil, and took possession “for Her Majesty the Queen” (in Latin) of this new land.

Francis Drake was a self-made man, who took great risks to make his fortune. He was looked down on by the nobility as a commoner, even after he was knighted, yet his story is one of the great adventures of Tudor history.

Tony Riches