Sir Francis, a celebrated English admiral, was born near Tavistock, Devonshire, in 1545. His father who had been bred a sailor, obtained a naval chaplaincy from Queen Elizabeth, and was afterwards vicar of Uphill church, on the Medway. Young Drake was educated at the expense and under the care of Sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman; and, at the age of eighteen, he had risen to be purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At twenty he made a voyage to Guinea; and at twenty-two he was made captain of the Judith. In that capacity he was in the harbour of San Juan de Ulloa, in the Gulf of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly in the actions under Sir John Hawkins, and returned with him to England, having acquired great reputation, though with the loss of all the money which he had embarked in the expedition. Having next projected an attack against the Spaniards in the West Indies to indemnify himself for his former losses, he set sail in 1572, with two small ships named the Pasha and the Swan. He was afterwards joined by another vessel; and with this small squadron he took and plundered the Spanish town of Nombre de Dios. With his men he penetrated across the isthmus of Panama, and committed great havoc among the Spanish shipping. In these expeditions he was much assisted by a nation of Indians, who were then engaged in a desultory warfare with the Spaniards. Having embarked his men and filled his ships with plunder, he bore away for England, where he arrived in August 1573.

His success and honourable demeanour in this expedition gained him high reputation; and the use which he made of his riches served to raise him still higher in popular esteem. Having fitted out three frigates at his own expense, he sailed with them to Ireland; and there, as a volunteer, under Walter earl of Essex, the father of the famous but unfortunate earl, performed many glorious actions. After the death of his patron he returned to England, where Sir Christopher Hatton introduced him to Queen Elizabeth, and procured him a favourable reception at court. In this way he acquired the means of undertaking that grand expedition which has immortalized his name. The first proposal he made was to undertake a voyage into the South Seas through the Straits of Magellans; an achievement which no Englishman had hitherto ever attempted. This project having been well received at court, the queen furnished him with means; and his own fame quickly drew together a sufficient force. The fleet with which he sailed on this enterprise consisted only of five small vessels, and their united crews mustered only 166 men. Having sailed on the 13th Dec. 1577, he on the 25th fell in with the coast of Barbary, and on the 29th with Cape Verde. On the 18th March he passed the equinoctial, made the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, and entered the river Plata, where he parted company with two of his ships; but having met them again, and taken out their provisions, he turned them adrift. On the 29th May he entered the port of St Julian's, where he continued two months for the sake of laying in a stock of provisions. On the 20th Aug. he entered the Straits of Magellans, and on the 25th Sept. passed them, having then only his own ship. On the 25th Nov. he arrived at Macao, which he had appointed as the place of rendezvous in the event of his ships being separated; but Captain Winter, his vice-admiral, had repassed the straits and returned to England. He thence continued his voyage along the coast of Chili and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships, and attacking them on shore, till his men were satiated with plunder; and then coasted along the shores of America, as far N. as Lat. 48°, in an unsuccessful endeavour to discover a passage into the Atlantic. Having landed, however, he named the country New Albion, and took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Having careened his ship, he set sail from thence on the 29th Sept. 1579 for the Moluccas. On the 13th Oct. he fell in with certain islands inhabited by the most barbarous people he had met with in all his voyage. On the 4th Nov. he got sight of the Moluccas; and, arriving at Ternate, was extremely well received by the king of that place, who appears from the most authentic relations of this voyage to have been a wise and politic prince. On the 10th Dec. he made the Celebes, where his ship unfortunately struck upon a rock, but was taken off without much damage. On the 16th March he arrived at Java, whence he intended to have directed his course to Malacca; but he found himself obliged to alter his purpose, and to think of returning home. On the 25th March 1580 he put this design in execution; and on the 15th June he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having then on board only fifty-seven men and three casks of water. On the 12th July he passed the line, reached the coast of Guinea on the 16th, and there watered. On the 11th Sept. he made the island of Terceira, and on the 3rd Nov. he entered the harbour of Plymouth. This voyage round the world was thus performed in two years and about ten months. Shortly after his arrival, the queen paid a visit to Deptford, went on board his ship, and there, after dinner, conferred upon him the honour of knighthood; at the same time declaring her entire approbation of all that he had done. She likewise gave directions for the preservation of his ship, that it might remain a monument of his own and his country's glory. In 1585 he sailed with a fleet to the West Indies, and took the cities of St Jago, St Domingo, Carthagena, and St Augustine. In 1587 he went to Lisbon with a fleet of thirty sail; and having received intelligence of a great fleet being assembled in the bay of Cadiz, and destined to form part of the Armada, he with great courage entered the port and there burnt upwards of 10,000 tons of shipping; a feat which he afterwards jocosely called "singeing the king of Spain's beard." In 1588, when the Spanish Armada was approaching our shores, Sir Francis Drake was appointed vice-admiral under Lord Howard, and made prize of a very large galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed the projector of the invasion. This affair deserves to be particularly stated. On the 22d of July, Sir Francis, observing a great Spanish ship floating at a distance from both fleets, sent his pinnace to summon the commander to yield. Valdez replied, with much Spanish solemnity, that they were four hundred and fifty strong, that he himself was Don Pedro, and stood much upon his honour; and thereupon pronounced several conditions upon which he was willing to yield. But the vice-admiral replied, that he had no leisure to parley; that if the Don thought fit instantly to yield, he might; if not, he should soon find that Drake was no coward. Pedro, hearing the name of Drake, immediately yielded, and with forty-six of his attendants came on board the admiral's ship.

It deserves to be noticed that Drake's name is mentioned in the singular diplomatic communication from the King of Spain which preceded the Armada:

Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas; Quam Dracus eripuit nunc restituantur eportet;

Quas pater overtiti jubete te condere cellas: Religio Pape fac restituiatur ad unguem.

To these the queen made this extemporary response:

Ad Graecas, bone rex, flant mandata kalendas.

In 1589, Sir Francis Drake commanded the fleet sent to restore Dom Antonio, king of Portugal, the land forces being under the orders of Sir John Norris; but they had hardly put to sea when the commanders differed, and thus the attempt proved abortive. But as the war with Spain continued, a more formidable expedition was fitted out, under Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, against their settlements in the West Indies, than had hitherto been undertaken during the whole course of it. Here, however, the commanders again disagreed about the plan; and the result in like manner disappointed public expectation. These disasters were keenly felt by Drake, and were the principal cause of his death, which took place on board his own ship, near the town of Nombre de Dios, in the West Indies, Jan. 28, 1595.