Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...

"Sottn on tije iFamiln of WvuUt
52, 53 Francis^ Drake of Esher was a son of Richard' Drake of Surrey, a
brother of Sir Bernard, whom Sir Francis the circumnavigator, in his Will,
calls his "cousin."
" Sir Francis," says the writer in the " Register" above
referred to, " appears to have taken him (Richard) under his patronage,
and introduced him to Elizabeth, in whose household he had a station until
his own and the Queen's death, which both happened in the same year."
Sir Francis, however, belonged to a branch of the family which had not
been prominent before his time. The emigrant John Drake was, therefore,
son of a first cousin to that Francis of Esher who made him one of his
legatees. Of Francis Drake of Esher it was said some years ago that there
is a "strong presumption that he resided for a short time in New England,
and that his family, at least himself and wife, were Puritans." « The
Puritanism of the Drakes of Esher is now confirmed.
The Will of Richard (53) Drake Esq. of Esher, dated 1603, contains
a bequest of ^10. to his " Nephewe William Drake's second [surviving]
Sonne John Drake" (John son of William of Wiscombe—see Pedigree).
The whole Drake descent of John Drake of New England, and the
collateral relationships which we have alluded to, together with his Prideaux
and Dennis ancestry, and the Gilbert, Grenville and Plantagenet ancestry of
his great grandmother Ann Grenville, are given in our Drake Pedigree. It
will^be seen that both in the male and female lines his ancestry can be
traced from many of the most ancient and honorable families of England.
Little information has reached us concerning the descendants of
our John Drake, many of whom have been distinguished ;
attempted to trace them out, except in our own line.
and we have not
" N. E. Histor. and Geneal, Register for 1870, p. 329- H '= an interesting fact, which has only
lately come to light, that the Puritan Rev. Thomas Hoolcer, afterwards of Hartford, Conn., was from
about 1620 to 1626 the Rector of Esher, residing in the house of Francis Drake, the patron of the living,
for the special benefit of Mrs. Drake who was a hypochondriac invalid. Mr. Hooker's daughter
Johanna, to whom Francis Drake left a legacy, is supposed to have been named for Mrs. Drake, whose
baptismal name was Joan-History of the First Church of Hartford. ... By George Leon Walker.
Hartford, 1884, pp. 34-36 and notes.
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