The Higleys and their Ancestry, an Old Colonial Family, by Mary Coffin Johnson 1896
CHAPTER V.
MATERNAL ANCESTRY.
O faithful worthies, resting far behind
In your dark ages, since ye fell asleep
Much has been done for truth, and humankind.
—Whittier.
THE Drakes were a very ancient family. They descended from a long line of valiant men, who can be traced back for many centuries. There is sufficient well-authenticated history relative to these maternal antecedents of the Higleys to fill a separate volume. From the time of the Reformation they are of the purest Protestant blood; and as far as can be learned, the good grandmothers so impressed their principles upon their offspring that the Higleys, at least, to this day maintain with hereditary instinct the characteristic of clinging bravely to reforms, and hold with tenacious devotion to broad and liberal principles.
From a genealogical book published by a descendant, Samuel G. Drake of Boston, in 1845, the following extracts are taken:19-1
“As early as the Norman Conquest there were several families of the name, residing chiefly within a small compass, in the south part of Devonshire, England. In Doomsday Book19-2 six estates are mentioned as possessed by persons of the name. Indeed, we are told that Honiton, one of these estates, was well known to the Romans, and was held by Drago the Saxon, before the Conquest. Hence the fact that the Drakes were Saxons. Not long after the conquest of England by William of Normandy (1066), we find a family seated at Exmouth, the head of which was John Drake.19-3
“Prince, vicar of Berry-Pomeroy, who wrote and published ‘The Worthies of Devon,’ speaking of the Drake family at Ashe [in the parish of Munsberry, about 1-3/4 miles to the south of Axminster], says: ‘This ancient and honourable family came originally from Exmouth, a small hamlet on the east side of the river Ex where it flows into the mouth of the British Ocean. Here dwelleth JOHN DRAKE, a man of great estate, and a name of no less antiquity.’ ‘This account,’ says Prince, he ‘received from Sir William Pole [descended from that family on the maternal side], who says: “I copied it out of an old Roll, and written all with mine own hand in the month of April, in the year of our Lord God, 1616.”’
“The motto has always been:
“‘AQUILA NON CAPIT MUSCAS.’20-1
“The figure in the shield is called by heralds a wivern, which is another name for the fabled Dragon of antiquity. Draco or Drago is the Roman name of Drake. . . We find that the Dragon was displayed on the banners of the Britons as early as 1448, and that churches have borne the emblem from time immemorial.
“That the original bearer of the Arms of DRAKE21-1 performed some act to entitle him to it, there is perhaps no question, but what that precise act may have been has long since passed beyond the utmost bounds of tradition.
“John Drake of the Council of Plymouth, one of the original Company established by King James in 1606 for settling New England, was of a branch of the house of Ashe, two of whose sons came to America—John, who came to Dorchester, near Boston, in 1630 with two or more Sons, and who finally settled at Windsor, Conn., and Robert, who settled in Hampton, N H. From these brothers are descended all by the name in New England, and most, if not all of those bearing the name in the middle, southern, and western United States.”
Footnotes
19-1. “Account of the Drake Family In America,” by S. 0. Drake.
19-2. The Doomsday Book is the result of a survey begun In 1080 by William the Conqueror, and completed in 1086, and briefly registers the names of the Saxon landholders and their possessions. The original book is still in existence and is in two volumes. Taxes were levied from it down to 1522, when a more accurate survey was taken.
19-3. Several members of the Drake descendants are mentioned In various connections in ancient records of Great Britain.
“An ancestor [John] went from Devonshire to Ireland in 1313 by special permission of Edward II ‘to go beyond the sea,’ and we have distinguished mention of some of his descendants.
“Captain George Drake of Apsham [1553] was the first Englishman who explored the river St. Lawrence.
“Robert Drake suffered as a martyr. He was a minister of Thundersly In Essex, who was burnt at the stake in Smithfield, April 23, 1556 in the reign of Mary. When exhorted by Bishop Banner to renounce his heresy, Drake made him this bold and memorable reply: ‘As for your Church of Rome, I utterly deny and defy it with all the works thereof, even as I deny the Devil and all his works.’ He had then lain nearly a year in prison, and was immediately thereafter ordered to execution.
“The father of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, Knt., was named Robert, and was also an outspoken Protestant clergyman, who, to avoid suffering in the same flames which had consumed his kindred, fled his place of nativity, near South Tavlstock, Devon, and secreted himself and his family in an old forsaken ship for many years. He had twelve children, all sons, several of them born ‘in the hulle of the shippe,’ most of whom followed the sea In foreign parts.
“Sir Francis was the eldest of the twelve boys. By perseverance and resolution in overcoming difficulties, and by unflinching courage, he rose in gradual succession to the highest rank in the English Naval service, and to the honor of knighthood bestowed by the Sovereign. This extraordinary man was the first Englishman that circumnavigated the globe, or, as one of his historians says, ‘the first who ploughed a furrow round the world.’ A special coat of arms was granted him in recognition of his distinguished services to his country.”.—Life of Sir Francis Drake, by John Barrow.
“Of the Drake descendants from the house of Ashe a century later, and of more modern times, was Samuel Drake, D. D., a man of eminent literary attainments, who died in 1673; Francis Drake, M. D., surgeon of York and F. R. S., a great antiquary, the author of the history and antiquities of York; William Drake, A. M., F. S. A., Vicar of Isleworth, was his son. Of the same family was Nathan Drake, M, D., of Hadleigh In Suffolk, the well-known essayist and most skillful and successful annotator and biographer of Shakespeare. And before him in point of time was Dr. James Drake, F. R, S., whose discoveries in anatomy are not surpassed In importance by those of Harvey.
“This list might be extended with names equally claiming attention.”—Account of the Drake Family, by S. G. Drake.
20-1. “The eagle doth not prey upon the fly.”
21-1. The armorial bearings of the Drake family are the same in all the lines of descent, except the special arms granted to Sir Francis Drake. All by the name, whose antecedents are traceable to the Devonshire family, are Justified in claiming lineage from this distinguished ancestry.