[Index]
Francis William DRAKE (1724 - 1788)
Admiral
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Francis Henry DRAKE
Sophia DRAKE (1765 - 1803)
Francis William DRAKE (1724 - 1788)

+

Elizabeth HEATHCOTE ( - 1797)
Francis Henry DRAKE ( - 1739)











Anne HEATHCOTE ( - 1768)












b. abt 22 Aug 1724 at Buckland Monachorum, Devon, England
m. Elizabeth HEATHCOTE ( - 1797)
d. 18 Dec 1788 aged 64
Parents:
Francis Henry DRAKE ( - 1739)
Anne HEATHCOTE ( - 1768)
Siblings (3):
Francis Duncombe DRAKE
Francis Henry DRAKE
Francis Samuel DRAKE
Children (2):
Francis Henry DRAKE
Sophia DRAKE (1765 - 1803)
Grandchildren (1):
Petrus Johannes Peter John DE SALIS (1799 - 1870)
Events in Francis William DRAKE (1724 - 1788)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
abt 22 Aug 1724 Francis William DRAKE was born Buckland Monachorum, Devon, England
abt 1739 15 Death of father Francis Henry DRAKE
1765 41 Birth of daughter Sophia DRAKE
abt 05 Nov 1768 44 Death of mother Anne HEATHCOTE
18 Dec 1788 64 Francis William DRAKE died
Personal Notes:
Vice Admiral Francis William Drake (d.1787). Admiral of the Blue, then Red, then White. Brother of Sir Francis Henry Drake, 5th Bt. (d.1792). Brothers-in-law of Lord Heathfield.

Francis William Drake (baptized August 22, 1724 - December 18, 1788) born in Buckland Monachorum, Devon the third son of Anne Heathcote and Sir Francis Henry Drake. Francis William is often confused with his younger brother, also a naval officer whose death occurred around the same time. All four sons of Sir Francis Henry Drake have Francis as their first name, which further adds to the confusion of Francis William. The son’s names were, Francis Henry, Francis Duncombe, Francis William and Francis Samuel.

1. History
Not much is known of Francis William's early life. Drake joined the Royal Navy at an early age (about 8 or 10). He received the rank as Captain on January 29, 1748 at the early age of 23. That year he commanded HMS Fowey, part of the Royal Navy Atlantic fleet. As England and Spain were at war, upon sight of the Spanish vessel St. Judea he gave the orders to attack and eventually captured it with its 108 crew. HMS Fowey was shipwrecked at the Florida Keys while towing the St. Judea to Virginia. An Investigation was launched by the Admiralty, but all were exonerated on testimony that they were the victim of a strange current.

Drake, in command of HMS Mercury, was one of Commodore George Brydges Rodney's senior officers and was sent into Conception and Trinity Bay's and as far north as Cape Bonavista where he had authority to hear appeals from decisions of fishing admirals and to enforce the various provisions of King William's Act of 1699.

In 1750 at the age of 26, Drake served as the de facto Governor of Newfoundland under Commodore Rodney, senior naval officer in 1750 and 1751, and was promoted to the full position in 1752.

Drake was instrumental in making reforms in the Newfoundland justice system in the way that prisoners were incarcerated and the requirement that people charged with criminal offences had to be transported to England for trial. The instructions given to Drake were to appoint judges and commissioners oyer and terminer to hear all criminal cases except treason. After returning to England Drake had suggested additional reforms urging that the provision forbidding the execution of those convicted of criminal offences be changed. He suggested that a secure prison be built in St. John’s as prisoners could easily escape or freeze to death while awaiting transport to England while incarcerated over the winter while the British cabinet determined their fate. Changes were granted including the right to execute prisoners found guilty of crimes.

Drake saw action in the West Indies during the Seven Years' War, also at The Downs and at Portsmouth, and saw action during the American Revolutionary War. He was promoted Rear-Admiral of the Blue in 1778 and Rear-Admiral of the Red in 1779, Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1780 and appointed to command a squadron of the Channel fleet under Vice-Admiral George Darby. Severe attacks of gout limited his ability to command, however, and terminated his active career abruptly that year; he was nevertheless promoted Vice-Admiral of the Red in September 1787.

On January 23, 1788 in Ripley he was married by special licence, because she was a minor, to the only daughter of George Onslow, for many years the member of parliament for Guildford. From that relationship Drake fathered a son, Francis Henry Drake. Francis Henry in 1794 claimed succession to his uncle in the baronetcy but was unsuccessful because of doubts raised of his parents’ marriage.

This public tree has about 60,100 people. Every person in the tree is related by birth or marriage to at least one other person in the tree - no strays. The people in the tree come mainly from four projects.
  1. My family tree. The original project begun about 1998. ID numbers less than about 6,000
  2. Canberra and Queanbeyan Pioneers. The next 30,000 begun about 2004. Sourced almost entirely from HAGSOC's excellent 'Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan'. The project began when I decided to add siblings, spouses and parents for a relation with an entry in the Register. 12 years work.
  3. Wagga Pioneers. I moved to Wagga and thought I would extend the Queanbeyan project by adding people from Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society's 'Pioneers of Wagga Wagga and District'. About 10,300 people added over about a year.
  4. Tumut Valley Pioneers. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, I decided to extend the above projects by adding pioneers of the Tumut Valley. Initial sources were Snowden's 'Pioneers of the Tumut Valley' and 'Relict of ... Lives of Pioneering Women of Tumut and District'. Excellent references published by Tumut Family History Group. I've also added material from newspapers of the time - especially, death records, obituaries and weddings from 'Tumut and Adelong Times'. This project is in its early stage and might take a few years. I plan to extend to the upper Monaro (Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cooma, Jindabyne).
I upload new information to this website about every 3 months. My motivation for these projects is to provide public information for people seeking to trace ancestors and what became of them. Much of the information I provide can be difficult to find.
If you find errors - anything incorrect (dates, places, wrong parents, wrong children), and you have evidence, I would love to fix them. Or, if you have information that would extend my projects, do not hestiate to contact me on the email link below. I do not publish information on living people - which means I'm not much interested in people born after about 1920, and I usually distrust material from before about 1770 without extremely good sources.
g.bell@bigpond.net.au
When you click the mail address abouve, if it does not open your email app, copy the address on the screen.
Geoff Bell, September 2020