Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet (1588 – 11 March 1637) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in two parliaments between 1625 and 1629. Drake was the son of Thomas Drake of

Buckland Abbey Buckland Abbey is a Grade I listed 700-year-old house in Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton, Devon, England, noted for its connection with Sir Richard Grenville the Younger and Sir Francis Drake. It is owned by the National Trust. Monastic ...

, Devon and his wife Elizabeth Gregory, widow of John Elford. His father was the brother of

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

and accompanied him in his sea adventures. Drake was baptised at Buckland Monachorum on 16 September 1588. He matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

on 23 November 1604 aged 15, and was of Lincoln's Inn in 1606. In 1622 King James sought to make up the money denied him by parliament, by seeking voluntary contributions from the county gentry. Following this, Drake was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on 2 August 1622. In 1624, Drake was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Pl ...

. He was elected MP for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative ...

in 1633. In 1628, Drake compiled the first detailed account of his uncle's circumnavigation, '' The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake'', based on his uncle's journal, the notes of Francis Fletcher, and other sources. Drake married firstly Jane Bampfield who died in 1613, and secondly Joan Stroud, daughter of Sir William Stroud of Newnham. His son Francis succeeded to the baronetcy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Francis 1588 births 1637 deaths High Sheriffs of Devon Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1628–1629 Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon Members of the Parliament of England for Plympton Erle