Born 1545.—Died 1596.—Henry VIII.—Edward VI.—Mary.—Elizabeth.

One of the “Devonshire Worthies,” born at Tavistock. Sailing from Plymouth with five ships, he passed through the Straits of Magellan to the South Seas, captured many large Spanish galleons with his famous Golden Hind, and returned to Plymouth by the Cape of Good Hope. He had been two years and ten months sailing round the world (December 1577 to 1580). Queen Elizabeth dined with Drake on board the Golden Hind at Deptford and knighted him with her own hands. Some of the timbers of Drake’s famous ship were made into a chair, which was given to the university of Oxford. Drake took a distinguished part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.