What are some notable places or landmarks named after Francis Drake?

Several geographic features are named after Drake, including Mount Sir Francis Drake in British Columbia, the Sir Francis Drake Channel between the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica.

What military roles did Francis Drake hold?

Drake held the rank of vice admiral in the Royal Navy and was a key figure in the English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also led several privateering expeditions sanctioned by the English crown.

What expeditions is Francis Drake known for?

Drake is most famous for his circumnavigation of the globe (1577–1580) and his raids on Spanish territories, including the 1587 attack on Cádiz. He also played a leading role in the Anglo-Spanish War.

What honors did Francis Drake receive?

Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I, likely in 1581, after his return from circumnavigating the globe. He was also recognized as a Knight Bachelor, a title granted by the monarch.

What organizations or groups was Francis Drake associated with?

Drake was a member of the Sea Dogs, a group of English privateers who operated under government sanction to attack foreign shipping, particularly Spanish vessels.

Francis Drake

Q: Who was Francis Drake?

Sir Francis Drake was an English sailor, privateer, and explorer active during the Elizabethan era. He is best known for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and for his contributions to England's naval defense.

English sailor and privateer (c. 1540 – 1596)

Person human Q36517

Facts

30 properties

Instance of: human
Sex or gender: male^[25]
Date of birth: July 13, 1540, 1545, 1540^[10]^[11]
Date of death: January 28, 1596, January 27, 1596^[12]
Place of birth: Tavistock
Place of death: Portobelo
Country of citizenship: Kingdom of England^[17]
Occupation: explorer, sailor, politician, engineer, vice admiral, privateer, pirate, seafarer^[18]^[19]^[20]
Position held: Member of the 1572-83 Parliament, Member of the 1584-85 Parliament, Member of the 1593 Parliament^[21]^[22]^[23]
Award received: Knight Bachelor^[24]
Father: Edmund Drake^[13]
Mother: Mary Mylwaye^[14]
Spouse: Mary Newman, Elizabeth Sydenham^[15]^[16]
Cause of death: dysentery^[28]
Languages spoken, written or signed: Middle English
Copyright status as a creator: copyrights on works have expired
Depicted by: Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596), Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596) (after Marcus Geeraerts, the younger)^[35]^[36]^[37]
Described by source: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, The Encyclopedia Americana, Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921, New International Encyclopedia, Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 3, Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela^[38]^[39]^[40]^[41]^[42]^[43]^[44]^[45]^[46]^[47]
Family name: Drake^[32]
Given name: Francis^[33]
Honorific prefix: Sir^[29]
Manner of death: natural causes^[34]
Military branch: Royal Navy^[26]
Military, police or special rank: vice admiral^[27]

Show all 30 facts +6

Name in native language: Francis Drake
On focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
P14536: 362804
P14608: 118527207
Participated in conflict: Anglo-Spanish War^[31]
Residence: Buckland Abbey^[30]

🏷️ Also known as

en Francis Drake en Sir Francis Drake ar فرنسيس دريك ar فرانسيس دريك cs Franciscus Draeck cs Sir Francis Drake da Sir Francis Drake de Sir Francis Drake el Σερ Φράνσις Ντρέικ el Φράνσις Ντρέικ en-gb Sir Francis Drake es Francisco Draque es Sir Francis Drake fa فرانسیس دریک fi Sir Francis Drake fr Sir Francis Drake he סר פרנסיס דרייק he פראנסיס דרייק he פרנסיס דרייק hi फ्रांसिस ड्रेक

🔖 Identifiers · 136

ISNI: 0000000121452514
VIAF cluster ID: 100250627
Library of Congress authority ID: n79008204
GND ID: 118527207
AbART person ID: 79625
Alexander Turnbull Library ID: 144863
American Academy in Rome ID: 12378692
American National Biography ID: 2001286
Arabic Ontology lexical concept ID: 151059475
BAnQ authority ID: 0000130766
BBC Things ID: 625834c9-6928-49ea-879a-0db6688cae57
BHCL UUID: 96ec851f-b10e-49d8-ae3f-306ffbac4733

Show all 136 identifiers +124

BLPL author ID: 18510
BabelNet ID: 00028600n
Babelio author ID: 240814
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 121516476
Booru tag: francis_drake
Bridgeman artist ID: 19301
British Museum person or institution ID: 90086, 68626
CANTIC ID: 981058523464206706
CCAB ID: 000510094
CERL Thesaurus ID: cnp00942294, cnp01327571
Canadian Encyclopedia article ID: sir-francis-drake
Canadiana Name Authority ID: ncf12073560
Comic Vine ID: 4005-51237
DDB person (GND) ID: 118527207
De Agostini ID: Drake,+sir+Francis
Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID: 118527207
Dictionary of Canadian Biography ID: drake_francis_1
Digital Scriptorium Catalog item ID: Horn of Africa
EGAXA ID: vtls001253293
Early Modern Letters Online person ID: caaa9074-1cd9-44e7-b2ae-8c58a4f24812
Edition humboldt digital ID: H0012378
Enciclopedia Galega Universal ID: 116080
Enciclopédia Açoriana ID: 2813
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID: biography/Francis-Drake
Encyclopædia Universalis ID: drake-sir-francis
FAST ID: 1816362
FamilySearch person ID: LKF2-79L
Find a Grave memorial ID: 8662254
Freebase ID: /m/031t2
GeneaStar person ID: drakef
Genealogics.org person ID: I00073230
Geni.com profile ID: 6000000006086120867
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID: francis-drake
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID (former scheme): 0022946
Great Norwegian Encyclopedia ID: Francis_Drake
Great Russian Encyclopedia Online ID (2017): 2631708
Harper's tag: francis-sir-drake
History of Parliament ID: 1558-1603/member/drake-francis-1540-96
Hrvatska enciklopedija ID: 16159
IdRef ID: 030012775
Interlingual Index ID: i94959
KBR person ID: 14556743
KBpedia ID: SirFrancisDrake-HistoricPerson
Kalliope-Verbund (GND) ID: 118527207
Kallías ID: PE00142229
Krugosvet article (archived): istoriya/DREK_FRENSIS.html
LBT person ID: FrDrake1596
Lex ID: Francis_Drake
Libraries Australia ID: 36089437
Libris-URI: hftwwth14c5s8r0
Lur Encyclopedic Dictionary ID: 01573/eu_d_1859/d1859
MoEML ID: DRAK1
Museum-digital ID: 36416
NDL Authority ID: 00620597
NE.se ID: francis-drake
NL CR AUT ID: jn20000700429
NLA Trove people ID: 1210336
NLP ID: a0000001187958
NSK (VIAF) ID: 000284300
NSK ID: 981005788313809366
NUKAT ID: n99035467
National Library of Brazil ID: 000532408
National Library of Chile ID: 000186618
National Library of Greece ID: 95871, 81154
National Library of Ireland ID: vtls000056897
National Library of Israel ID (old): 000040678
National Library of Israel J9U ID: 987007260510905171
National Library of Lithuania ID: LNB:CfVe;=B0
National Library of Poland MMS ID: 9810694908405606
National Library of Portugal ID: 161500
National Library of Russia ID: 77123185
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID (BNE v1.0): XX823432
National Library of Wales Authority ID: drake-francis-sir-1540-1597, drake-francis-sir-1540-1596
National Portrait Gallery (London) person ID: mp01357
National Virtual Library of India ID: 787k (192k–1.0M, n=7)
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID: 06746484X
Notable Names Database ID: 813/000031720
Obálky knih ID: jn20000700429
Online PWN Encyclopedia ID: 3894110
Open Library ID: OL3281573A
Open Plaques subject ID: 5818
OpenMLOL author ID: 140352
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ID: 8022
Oxford Reference overview ID: 20110803095730106
PMB – Personen der Moderne Basis person ID: 149481
Parsifal cluster ID: 48077
Personality Database profile ID: 11053
Pontifical University of Salamanca ID: 1403804
Postimees topic ID: 671917
Proleksis enciklopedija ID: 18439
Quora topic ID: Francis-Drake-3
RERO ID (legacy): A003190108
RILM ID: 150429
Rodovid ID: 319999
Roglo person ID: p=francis;n=drake;oc=6
SBN author ID: SBLV069285
SELIBR ID: 184021
SHARE Catalogue author ID: 557056
SNAC ARK ID: w66978s2
SNARC ID: La Gacilly
SVKKL authority ID: p0059336-Drake-Francis-asi-15401596
Six Degrees of Francis Bacon ID: 10003665
The Literary Encyclopedia person ID: 1312
The Peerage person ID: p24901.htm#i249003
Topic's main category: Category:Francis Drake
Trading Card Database name ID: 69797
Treccani ID: sir-francis-drake
Treccani's Dizionario di Storia ID: sir-francis-drake
UK National Archives ID: F68844
University of Barcelona authority ID: 981058523464206706
University of Barcelona authority ID (former scheme): a1212191
Vatican Library ID (former scheme): ADV12360669
Vatican Library VcBA ID: 495/86284
Vikidia article ID: en:Francis_Drake, fr:Francis_Drake
Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija ID: francis-drake
WBIS ID: R20972
WeRelate person ID: Francis_Drake_(6)
Wellcome Collection concept ID: dabqrg2y
WikiKids ID: Francis_Drake
WikiTree person ID: Drake-326
WordNet 3.1 Synset ID: 10962858-n
World History Encyclopedia ID: Francis_sigma
WorldCat Entities ID: E39PBJrChDPJpdtMbXjhRbpHG3
YCBA agent ID: 3468

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Occupation 6

politician, engineer, sailor, privateer, explorer, vice admiral

Described by source 4

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, New International Encyclopedia, The Nuttall Encyclopædia

Named after 4

Drake Passage, HMNB Devonport, Mount Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake Channel

← Characters 3

Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth R

Award received 1

Knight Bachelor

Belongs to 1

Sea Dogs

Cause of death 1

dysentery

Country of citizenship 1

Kingdom of England

Digital Scriptorium Catalog item ID 1

Horn of Africa

Family name 1

Drake

Given name 1

Francis

Honorific prefix 1

Sir

Instance of 1

human

Languages spoken, written or signed 1

Middle English

Manner of death 1

natural causes

Military branch 1

Royal Navy

Military, police or special rank 1

vice admiral

On focus list of Wikimedia project 1

Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Participated in 1

Francis Drake's circumnavigation

Participated in conflict 1

Anglo-Spanish War

Place of birth 1

Tavistock

Place of death 1

Portobelo

Residence 1

Buckland Abbey

SNARC ID 1

La Gacilly

Sex or gender 1

male

Topic's main category 1

Category:Francis Drake

← Category's main topic 1

Category:Francis Drake

← Commissioned by 1

Golden Hind

← Discoverer or inventor 1

Coast Miwok

← Significant person 1

Carolus Clusius

Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Summary

Francis Drake was born on July 13, 1540^[1], in Tavistock^[2]. He died on January 28, 1596^[3], in Portobelo^[4]. He worked as an explorer^[5], sailor^[6], politician^[7], engineer^[8], and vice admiral^[9].

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for Francis Drake include Drake Passage^[48], a strait^[49], in Chile^[50]; HMNB Devonport^[51], a Royal Navy Dockyard^[52], in United Kingdom^[53]; Sir Francis Drake Channel^[54], a strait^[55], in United Kingdom^[56]; and Mount Sir Francis Drake^[57], a mountain^[58], in Canada^[59].

Why It Matters

He is credited with the discovery of Coast Miwok^[60], an ethnic group^[61], in United States^[62]. Entities named for him include Drake Passage^[48], a strait^[49], in Chile^[50]; HMNB Devonport^[51], a Royal Navy Dockyard^[52], in United Kingdom^[53]; Sir Francis Drake Channel^[54], a strait^[55], in United Kingdom^[56]; and Mount Sir Francis Drake^[57], a mountain^[58], in Canada^[59].

FAQs

Where was Francis Drake born?

Francis Drake was born in Tavistock^[2].

Where did Francis Drake die?

Francis Drake died in Portobelo^[4].

Who were Francis Drake's parents?

Francis Drake's father was Edmund Drake^[13]. Francis Drake's mother was Mary Mylwaye^[14].

Who was Francis Drake married to?

Francis Drake's spouses include Mary Newman^[15] and Elizabeth Sydenham^[16].

What did Francis Drake do for work?

Francis Drake worked as an explorer^[5], sailor^[6], politician^[7], engineer^[8], and vice admiral^[9].

What awards did Francis Drake receive?

Honors received include Knight Bachelor^[24].

What did Francis Drake discover?

Francis Drake is credited as discoverer of Coast Miwok^[60].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Francis Drake — place of birth (P19): Tavistock. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-10-17. bbc.co.uk. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Francis Drake — place of death (P20): Portobelo. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-10-17. cnn.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[25] ↑ Francis Drake — sex or gender (P21): male. BnF authorities. Retrieved 2015-10-10. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Francis Drake — father (P22): Edmund Drake. The Peerage. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ Francis Drake — mother (P25): Mary Mylwaye. Genealogics. wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ Francis Drake — spouse (P26): Mary Newman. Retrieved 2020-08-07. wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ Francis Drake — spouse (P26): Elizabeth Sydenham. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ Francis Drake — country of citizenship (P27): Kingdom of England. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. wikidata.org.
[21] ↑ Francis Drake — position held (P39): Member of the 1572-83 Parliament. The History of Parliament. wikidata.org.
[22] ↑ Francis Drake — position held (P39): Member of the 1584-85 Parliament. The History of Parliament. wikidata.org.
[23] ↑ Francis Drake — position held (P39): Member of the 1593 Parliament. The History of Parliament. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): explorer. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2015-06-25. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): sailor. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): politician. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): engineer. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): vice admiral. wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): privateer. wikidata.org.
[19] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): pirate. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[20] ↑ Francis Drake — occupation (P106): seafarer. Integrated Authority File. Retrieved 2026-04-20. wikidata.org.
[24] ↑ Francis Drake — award received (P166): Knight Bachelor. wikidata.org.
[26] ↑ Francis Drake — military branch (P241): Royal Navy. wikidata.org.
[27] ↑ Francis Drake — military, police or special rank (P410): vice admiral. wikidata.org.
[28] ↑ Francis Drake — cause of death (P509): dysentery. wikidata.org.
[29] ↑ Francis Drake — honorific prefix (P511): Sir. wikidata.org.
[30] ↑ Francis Drake — residence (P551): Buckland Abbey. wikidata.org.
[1] ↑ Francis Drake — date of birth (P569): July 13, 1540. pantheon.world. Retrieved 2017-10-09. pantheon.world. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Francis Drake — date of birth (P569): 1545. wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Francis Drake — date of birth (P569): 1540. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2026-10-17. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Francis Drake — date of death (P570): January 28, 1596. Find a Grave. Retrieved 2019-08-29. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Francis Drake — date of death (P570): January 27, 1596. Babelio. Retrieved 2017-10-09. wikidata.org.
[31] ↑ Francis Drake — participated in conflict (P607): Anglo-Spanish War. wikidata.org.
[32] ↑ Francis Drake — family name (P734): Drake. wikidata.org.
[33] ↑ Francis Drake — given name (P735): Francis. wikidata.org.
[34] ↑ Francis Drake — manner of death (P1196): natural causes. wikidata.org.
[35] ↑ Francis Drake — depicted by (P1299): Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596). wikidata.org.
[36] ↑ Francis Drake — depicted by (P1299): Sir Francis Drake. wikidata.org.
[37] ↑ Francis Drake — depicted by (P1299): Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596) (after Marcus Geeraerts, the younger). wikidata.org.
[38] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900. wikidata.org.
[39] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[40] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[41] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): The Nuttall Encyclopædia. wikidata.org.
[42] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. wikidata.org.
[43] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): The Encyclopedia Americana. wikidata.org.
[44] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Collier's New Encyclopedia, 1921. wikidata.org.
[45] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): New International Encyclopedia. wikidata.org.
[46] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 3. wikidata.org.
[47] ↑ Francis Drake — described by source (P1343): Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela. wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

Inline context (facts about related entities)

[61] ↑ Coast Miwok — P31: ethnic group. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[62] ↑ Coast Miwok — P17: United States. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[49] ↑ Drake Passage — P31: strait. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[50] ↑ Drake Passage — P17: Chile. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[52] ↑ HMNB Devonport — P31: Royal Navy Dockyard. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[53] ↑ HMNB Devonport — P17: United Kingdom. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[55] ↑ Sir Francis Drake Channel — P31: strait. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[56] ↑ Sir Francis Drake Channel — P17: United Kingdom. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[58] ↑ Mount Sir Francis Drake — P31: mountain. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[59] ↑ Mount Sir Francis Drake — P17: Canada. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Francis Drake. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/francis-drake

MLA “Francis Drake.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 3 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/francis-drake.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_francis-drake_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Francis Drake}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/francis-drake}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-03}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Francis Drake — https://4ort.xyz/entity/francis-drake (retrieved 2026-11-03)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/francis-drake · Last refreshed: November 3, 2026

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

20d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Wikipedia languages → ['af', 'am', 'an', 'anp', 'ar', 'arz', 'ast', 'avk', 'awa', 'az', 'ba', 'bat_smg

Sitelink count → 121

Claims rich → —

"/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||3 */ source for place of birth, source for place of death, source for date of birth from Store norske leksikon ([[Wikidata:Requests for permiss"
11w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗

BabelNet ID → 00028600n

Arabic Ontology lexical concept ID → 151059475

"/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
17w ago · Susmuffin · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Harper's tag → francis-sir-drake

"/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Harper's tag: francis-sir-drake, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/289931444|francis sir drake (#289931444)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/7915|Har"
17w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14608 → 118527207

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14608: 118527207, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1783130387391"
18w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14536 → 362804

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 362804, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
21w ago · Jindřich Rubeš · 2026-06-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗

SVKKL authority ID → p0059336-Drake-Francis-asi-15401596

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ SVKKL authority ID: p0059336-Drake-Francis-asi-15401596, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/259495|batch #259495]]"
24w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-20 view diff on Wikidata ↗

CERL Thesaurus ID → cnp00942294, cnp01327571

Described by source → Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary +7

Occupation → explorer, sailor, politician +5

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32085|batch #32085]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (27)"
25w ago · Gerwoman · 2026-05-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Local thumb → —

Copyright status as a creator → copyrights on works have expired

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/31324|batch #31324]]"

Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.