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
Drake's successful voyage began by taking a ship bound from Brazil to Portugal with a load of sugar. Alerting the British Newfoundland fishermen that their primary markets of Spain were now off-limits, he took several Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels, detaching some of his own vessels to take them to England as prizes. Teaming up with Raleigh-associate George Raymond, he took several Spanish traders around the Azores carrying sugar, wine and ivory, as well as a French vessel bearing gold. The total takings of the expedition, about 20 ships, represented a profit estimated at 600%, from which as his share Drake and his son John received the four most valuable ships. Equally important, the voyage had deprived the Spanish navy and merchant marine of the dried fish on which they relied for their own voyages, leading the Spanish government to forbid ships from sailing to Newfoundland, while the Portuguese fishing fleet was permanently hobbled by their losses to Drake.
Marriage and progeny
At an unknown date, Drake married Gertrude Fortescue, a daughter of Bartholomew Fortescue (d. 1557) of Filleigh, North Devon, and sister of Richard Fortescue (d. 1570) of Filleigh (ancestor of the Earls Fortescue) in whose memory he erected a monumental brass in Filleigh Church. Gertrude's mother was Ellen Moore, a daughter of Morris Moore (1459–1500) of Moor Hayes in the parish of Cullompton in Devon, by his wife Cecily Bonville, a daughter of John Bonville, base son of William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville. By his wife he had six children: Hugh Drake (d. 1589), who died in Portugal in 1589, without progeny; John Drake (died 1628), of Mount Drake and Ashe, who married Dorothy Button (d. 1631), a daughter of William Button of Aston, Wiltshire; their son, Sir John Drake (d. 1636) of Ashe, married Eleanor Boteler, a daughter of John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, and was the maternal grandfather of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough; Marie Drake, who married Tynsley of Lincolnshire; Mary Drake, who married John Sherman, of Knightstone, Ottery St. Mary, Devon; their daughter Alice Drake married Richard Percivale and was ancestress of the Earls of Egmont; Eleanor Drake, who married John Button of Wiltshire.