Sir Francis Drake

It was clear from early in the life of Sir Francis Drake that he would achieve greatness - he was, for instance, the only boy in his class with a knighthood. Drake grew up in Devon in the 1540s and surprised his parents by turning his back on a comfortable life managing the family teashop, instead choosing to go to sea.

He was soon on his way to the new world, sailing in an expedition accompanied by Sir Jim Hawkins aboard the Hispaniola but the mission was betrayed to the Spanish at the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulua by a one-legged treasure-obsessed man with a parrot on his shoulder. Drake escaped but continued to nurture a lifelong hatred of the Spanish and a deep-seated prejudice towards the one-legged community.

Drake decided to circumnavigate the earth, after a small but embarrassing delay when his second mate misheard him and recruited a Rabbi instead of a crew. He set off in a ship named Pelican which he later renamed The Golden Hind, quoting an early and unsuccessful Shakespeare sonnet

'Thine Hind shines like a Golden vision, as if the sun doth shine from within.'

Drake achieved numerous things as he sailed around the world, discovering the butternut squash, capturing Spanish treasure ships and claiming Oregon for Queen Elizabeth - although this was soon given back as Elizabeth had better taste. Drake returned to England with his fame and fortune assured.

Drake became Deputy-Admiral of the Royal Navy and so was given the job of stopping the Spanish Armada when it finally turned up in 1588, famously refusing to break off his 'game of bowls' with the Plymouth Hoe. He was second in command to Lord Howard of Effingham, who got his name because of his foul language when told of the Spanish declaration of war - the ladies of the court were said to have heard him Effing them all night. The Armada was defeated at the Battle of Gravelines and England was safe.

Drake continued to spend his life at sea, finally dying on yet another expedition to the New World. Queen Elizabeth herself went into mourning, dining on duck for a week in his memory.