Francis Fletcher ( – ) was a priest of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

who accompanied

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 ( ...

on his

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the world from 1577 to 1580 and kept a written account of it.

Life

Much is known about Fletcher's three years of voyaging around the world with Drake, but there is little certain information about the rest of his life.David B. Quinn, ''Explorers and Colonies: America, 1500–1625'' (Continuum, 1990)
p. 194
/ref>

John Venn John Venn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in l ...

identified Fletcher with a man of this name who entered

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, in 1574, but did not take a degree. He was briefly Rector of

St Mary Magdalen, Milk Street St Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, was a parish church in the City of London, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. Originally constructed in the 12th century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. The ...

, a parish of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, resigning in July 1576 to join Drake in his preparation of a fleet for purposes which are still disputed. He acted as Drake's chaplain during the three-year voyage which ensued, keeping a journal of their adventures which he handed to Drake on the expedition's return to England in 1580. In September 1578, Drake's own ship, the ''

Golden Hind ''Golden Hind'' was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as ''Pelican,'' but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hat ...

'', passed the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

amid storms, and Fletcher recorded that the ship was driven to the "utmost island of Terra Incognita". He made a map of "Elizabeth Iland" ''(pictured)'',British Library, ''Sir Francis Drake: an exhibition to commemorate Francis Drake's Voyage around the World, 1577–1580'' (London, 1977), p. 68 which Fletcher and Drake claimed for England, naming it Elizabeth Island. Fletcher was sometimes at odds with Drake. In a sermon he preached to the expedition in January 1580, Fletcher suggested that their ships' recent woes had resulted from the unjust death of Thomas Doughty, whom Drake had ordered to be beheaded on 2 July 1578. After the sermon, Drake had Fletcher chained to a hatch cover, then "solemnly

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

him". Venn states that Fletcher was Rector of Bradenham in Buckinghamshire from 1579 to 1592, but a later writer, David B. Quinn, points out that Fletcher was still overseas in 1579 and believes Venn has confused him with a man named Richard Fletcher. In 1593 Fletcher became Vicar of

Tickhill Tickhill is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Nottinghamshire. At the 2001 census it had a population of 5,301, reducing to 5,228 at the 2011 Census. Geography It lies ...

, Yorkshire, and in 1605 he married Margaret Gallard, a widow. He may have died in 1619, when another man was appointed to his church

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

. Fletcher's log of Drake's voyage formed the basis of '' The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake'', an account of the voyage published in London in 1628 at the instigation of Drake's nephew, another

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 (t ...

. A copy of the first part of Fletcher's journal was made by a man named John Conyers, described as "Citizen and Apothecary of London", about 1677, and this survives in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, catalogued as "Sloane MS 61, ''Francis Fletcher's Log''".

In popular culture

Fletcher is portrayed by Roger Adamson in the film ''

Drake's Venture ''Drake's Venture'' is a 1980 film depiction of Francis Drake's voyage of Francis Drake's Circumnavigation, circumnavigation. Produced by Westward Television to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the event, it nevertheless focuses on the voyag ...

'' (1980).Drake's Venture
in the

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaim ...

database, accessed 1 January 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Francis 1550s births 16th-century English Anglican priests 16th-century explorers 17th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Circumnavigators of the globe English diarists Year of death missing