22ND GENERATION

3940352. Nicholas DRAKE ^(322)(312) was born about 1252. He died in 1302 in Great Waltham, England.

It has been said by historians and genealogists that our branch of the family (the emigrant Robert Drake of Hampton, New Hampshire), came from Devonshire, England; hence he has been associated with Sir Francis Drake. This conclusion was reached for several reasons: (1) No record has been found of the exact date when Robert emigrated nor the name of the ship in which he sailed. (2) It has been generally assumed, on both sides of the Atlantic, that Drake was a predominantly Devonshire name. (3) In his will, Robert lists his occupation as that of a sergemaker. As Devon was at this time one of the principal sergemaking counties in England, genealogists concentrated on Devon in their searches for the parents and ancestors of Robert Drake. (4) Robert named a son Francis Drake and Francis' son named his son Francis, further leading to the conclusion that they were related to Sir Francis Drake. This legacy has been passed down to the present day in many branches of the family.

A deposition made by Robert Drake's sons, Nathaniel and Abraham, at Hampton on April 27, 1691, concerning the parentage of Isabel Bland said:

"The deposition of Nathaniell Drake, aged about seaventie eight year, and Abram Drake, aged about seaventie year, who saith that they have known Mr. John Bland, sometime a liver upon the land, commonly called Matthew's Vineyard, formerly a liver at Colchester in England; we have also known Isabell Bland now the wife of Thomas Levitt of Hampton, in New Hampsheir; we have known them both ever since wee were children, and the said Isabell Bland, now the wife of Thomas Levitt was always accounted to be the daughter of the above said John Bland; and wee have heard the above said John Bland to own the above said Isabell to be his daughter, and have never heard nothing to the contrarie, never since wee can remember; and the above said John Bland sometimes called by som persons John Smith, but his name, and his ancestors, name was called Bland."

This clue in American records has been overlooked until 1867 when Samuel Gardner Drake (author, historian, and genealogist, as well as a descendant) called attention to it. Yet, this avenue was not explored until very recently when Colonel James Frank Drake commissioned the work by Sir Anthony Wagner, Garter King of Arms. The depositon revealed several points of utmost importance in the discovery of our ancestral line. It gave us approximate dates of birth for Nathaniel and Abraham, and takes the family back to Colchester, County Essex, England. Colchester, too, was an early center of sergemaking, and Essex was an even more prolific source of early New England settlers than Devon. Essex is away on the other side of England from Devon; therefore, if this family is related to Sir Francis, it is a very distant relatonship which cannot be proven.

The earliest known ancestor of our line was Nicholas Drake, probably born about 1252, died in 1302 at Great Waltham, County Essex, England, and his wife, Agnes, who died at that same place in 1319. They named their son Nicholas.

Complied in Sep. 1980 by Stanley Ross Williams

3940353. Agnes⁽³²²⁾ died in 1319 in Great Waltham, England. Children were:

1970176 i. Nicholas DRAKE.