Sir Francis Drake (c1540-1596)
Sir Francis Drake is best known for circumnavigating the globe, ‘singeing the King of Spain’s beard’ at Cadiz and vanquishing, after a game of bowls, the Spanish Armada. Less well known is that he was also three times a Member of Parliament.
His first stint at Westminster is shrouded in mystery. There is only a single reference to him, in the House of Commons Journal for 17 February 1581:
Leave of Absence.
Francis Drake Esquire is licensed this Day, by Mr. Speaker, to depart for certain his necessary Business, in the Service of her Majesty.
He had probably been returned in a by-election shortly after his return in 1580 from his circumnavigation, possibly for Camelford in Cornwall, following the death of one of its Members.
He was the senior of the two Members for Bossiney in Cornwall in the 1584 Parliament. His return, which may have involved as few as nine ‘electors’, was due to the patronage of the 2nd Earl of Bedford, who controlled the seat at that time. He was nominated to many House committees, including one on the Bill “for the preservation of the Haven of Plymouth”, as well as those dealing with Bills on general issues such as Sabbath Observance.
His final parliamentary stint was his most prestigious, being senior member for Plymouth in the 1593 Parliament. Drake had long and active connections with Plymouth, as its Mayor in 1581-2, and later in charge of its defences. He was on committees concerning the Harbour and for bringing fresh water to Stonehouse (a town now within Plymouth). He tried to amend a Bill on importation of fish, an issue of great importance to the West Country, and possibly to Drake personally, as it seems he had a monopoly interest in the trade in ‘pilchers’ (ie pilchards).
The major issue in that Parliament was the grant of supply for national defence, and Drake was closely involved in the Commons debates and committees dealing with this ‘subsidy’. This occasioned the only surviving record of his speaking in the Commons, on Wednesday 7 March 1593:
Sir Francis Drake described the King of Spains Strength and cruelty where he came, and wished a frank Aid to be yielded to withstand him; and he agreed to three Subsidies.
Though he never served in Parliament again, he had a kind of memorial through the Plymouth Drake constituency, which existed from 1918 to 1950, and from 1974 to 1997.