Bernard Drake

Sir Bernard Drake (c. 1537 – 10 April 1586) of Ash in the parish of Musbury, Devon, was an English sea captain. He himself refuted any familial relationship with his contemporary the great Admiral Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 1596), as their dispute concerning armorials reveals. In fact, Sir Bernard Drake's grandparents John Drake V 1474-1554 and his wife Margaret were also the grandparents of Sir Francis Drake; Sir Bernard being descended from an older son and Francis descended from a younger son. Origin He was the eldest son of John Drake (d. 1558) of Ash, by his wife Amy Grenville (d. 1578/9), a daughter of Sir Roger Grenville (1477–1523), lord of the manor of Bideford in Devon and of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton, Cornwall, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1510–11, 1517–18, 1522, and present within the Cornish contingent at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. His brother was Richard Drake (1535–1603) of Esher, an Equerry of the Stable and Groom of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I and a Member of Parliament. His uncle was Richard Grenville. Sir Bernard's aunt, Alice Drake, married Walter Raleigh and became the step-mother of Sir Walter Raleigh, the explorer and poet. Voyages His life was uneventful until he became associated with Sir Humphrey Gilbert, perhaps through his relatives Richard Grenville and Walter Raleigh. Thus Bernard was first attracted to American ventures and, in December 1582, he was among the adventurers in a corporation established by Gilbert to exploit his royal grant in North America, although Drake's involvement seems to have been limited to his investment; Drake undertook to lead a party of adventurers to settle whatever part of North America Gilbert had sold him on paper. He did not participate in any overseas ventures, however, so far as is known, until 1585, by which time he had joined with Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert's brother, John, in activities connected with the Roanoke Island Colony, in present-day North Carolina. When, on 26 May, the Spanish government placed an embargo on English shipping in Bilbao harbour, Raleigh commissioned Drake to warn English fishermen in Newfoundland of the embargo and to seize Spanish shipping. Dropping plans for a privateering voyage to the West Indies en route for Roanoke, where a colony was to be settled by Sir Richard Grenville who had left Plymouth in April, Drake left for Newfoundland in July. Newfoundland