New-York tribune., 1909-10-29
THE DRAKE HEIRS MYTH


On the Caronia there sailed last week
school teacher of Plainheld, N. J., Eleanor
Dunn by name. to claim for the American
heirs the estate Of Sir Francis Drake, the
great naval hero and explorer of the Eliza
bethan reign. The estate, said to consist
of landed grants to the navigator and ac-~
cumulauons Of rentals, is estimated bv
the association of which Mrs Dunn is the
president at between Sl25,0OOOO0 and $780,
100000. The association is made up of some
two hundred American alleged descendants
of the great Sir Francis Drake. They have
in the past employed several agents to push
their claims in England. But these agents
while accepting money for their services. do
not seem to have fulfilled the expectations
OF the brakes. or to have been diligent in
their task. That is why Mrs Dunn. the
president of the association, has now sailed
for England to undertake the great work
Of securing this immense estate for the
Drake association herself
These claims which have been kent
dangling before the eyes of creduIous per-
sons in this country FOR at least twenty
years past, and which have been utilized
by unscrupulous individuals to swindle
scores OF persons OF modest means out of
thousands OF dollers, which they could i'll
afford TO lose, are based on the supposi-
ton and assertion that Sir Francis Drake
left two sons, John and Francis. The lat
ter, II is asserted, inherited his fathers
property and passed ii on to his heirs, his
branch Of the family, however. becoming
extinct in 1749, whereupon the property as
well as the title should have reverted to
the descendants Of John, the younger son
Of the famous navigator The members of
q or
claim to be the lineal heirs and descendants
Of this John Drake. and it is on this preten-
sion that they base their demands.
Now. if Mrs. Dunn and her associates will
be good enough to consult the English Of
fetal standard ''Peerages," "Baronetages''
and analogous works Of reference. both of
the present day and of the sixteenth. sew.
enteenth and eighteenth centuries they will
be able 10 assure themselves of the fact
that Queen EIzabeth's great admiral Sir
Francis Drake, although twice married,
died without children.
BY his will, which bears the date of Lon
don, May II, 1896. the original of which is
on file to this day at Somerset House.
in London, and shown TO visitors on nav
ment of a small fee, Drake declares that,
being childless, he bequeaths his property,
consisting of Buckland Abbey in the coun-
~ of Devon, to his nephew, Francis Drake,
the son of his elder brother Thomas, who is
named executor of the will. This is suffi-
cient in itself to dispose of the claims of
the Drake association in this country and
to prove that under no circumstances can
they possibly be regarded as descendants of
the admiral The latters nephew and heir.
Francis Drake, was created a baronet BY
James I. and the baronetcy as well as the
property passed down, either from father to
son or from uncle 10 nephew until the end
of the eighteenth century, when the baro-
netcy became extinct through the death
without issue in 1894 Of Sir Francis Henry
Drake, the NTH baronet.
On his death the Drake estates. compris-
ing Buckiand Abbey, near Yelverton, went
TO his nephew. the second and last Lord
Heathfield Of Gibraltar. Lord Heathheld's
baronet. and married Sir George Eliot, who
for his gallant defence Of Gibraltar was
created first Lord Heathfed Anne Drake
and the first Lord Heathfleld had besides
This only son, who died second and last
Tord Heathfeld, a daughter named Anne
Eliot. who married John Trayton Fuller, Of
Ashdown House, Sussex.
Their son, Thomas Fuller, inherited on
the dearb OF his uncle. the second Lord
fIeatbhcld. the Drake estates. and. in &C.
cordanoe with the terms OF the viii of The
arm baronet assumed the name and the
a,n,orial bearings OF the Drake family He
was a distinguished veteran az The PENN
sular wars, ana. partly Tor his services