minimal, could speak and understand some Spanish and perhaps French; able to read and write. Scrawly and rushed handwriting and as he said himself "My upbringing hath not been in learning."

Religion:

devout Christian, Church of England rather than Puritan.

Personal Characteristics:

eyes	blue/gray
hair	red/brown, conker coloured and curly
temper	explosive
sense of humour	outrageous since he liked a good laugh.
favourite colour	blue

Houses:

Looe Street, Plymouth
Buckland Abbey - his much loved beautiful country seat, 12 miles north of Plymouth,
The Herbor, Dowgate, London

Marriages:

Mary Newman	1569-1583
Elizabeth Sydenham	1586-1596

Hobbies:

sailing, fishing, bowling, painting since he was a gifted artist.

Likes:

fine clothes
children
music
ships
Plymouth

Dislikes:

Spaniards
Catholics
fools
snobs
anybody who upset Plymouth
lazy individuals

Major Achievements

12 main voyages which included sailing around the world
Providing Plymouth with a water supply and a Poor House
Writing two prayers and a poem
Being an effective civic leader and politician
With Hawkins and Howard, initiated a welfare scheme for sailors
Settlements, islands and waterways worldwide named Drake
Spawned over 450 biographies
Two Hollywood films
Having a children's TV series about him and related merchandising in the 1960s
Two TV documentaries to commemorate the 400th year of his death
The formation of the Drake Exploration Society in 1996
Various DVDs
A computer game "Drake's Treasure"
Inspiring Susan Jackson to assemble the world's largest collection of Drake biographies
Inspiring published Drake author Michael Turner to photograph every Drake location in the world

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