Richard Drake

Richard Drake of Esher, Surrey, (Esher, Surrey, 1535 [Gower's portrait, 1577, shows Drake "aetatis suis" 42.] — 11 July 1603), Equerry of the Stable to Elizabeth I of England, was the son of Richard Drake and first cousin of the navigator Sir Francis Drake, the son of Richard's brother Edmund. He served as factor and prize agent to his cousin, taking charge of the Spanish Armada prisoners taken off Plymouth in 1588, which included the Spanish vice-admiral, Don Pedro de Valdés, whom he kept at Esher, pending arrangements for the ransom, a subject over which his heirs and Sir Francis's quarrelled. [Harry Kelsey, "Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate" (Yale University Press) 1998:337.]

Richard Drake purchased the manor of Esher, which he held at the time of his death and bequeathed to his son, Francis, who sold it after 1631. The ancient manor house had been a seat of Cardinal Wolsey, purchased from him by Henry VIII, temporarily returned to the see under Mary and eventually conveyed by Elizabeth to Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, from whom Drake must have purchased it. ["Cardinal Woldey at Esher", "The Gentleman's Magazine" 1879:363. ]

He married Ursula Stafford, daughter of Sir William Stafford.

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