The Drake Bible
The Drake Family Bible was printed in 1747 (M DCC XLVII) by Thomas Baskett of Oxford. It is a lovely old book, beautifully bound in leather and appears to have been acquired by the Drake Family in 1749.
As was common, the fore and aft pages of the Bible were used to record the births, marriages and deaths of succeeding generations. The Bible appears to have been re-bound c1948, but the fore pages have detached and have suffered damage around the edges because they have been sticking out past the covers.
The owners of the Bible appear to have been:
Owner | Birth | Death |
Philip Drake | Unknown | 20 June 1760 Littleham Devon |
Dr. John Drake Oldest son |
11 December 1743 Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth, Devon |
26 December 1797 Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth, Devon |
Commissary General John Drake Oldest surviving son |
11 November 1782 Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth, Devon |
24 June 1867 Regents Park, London |
Lt. Col. John Minshull Drake Oldest son |
21 May 1807 Sandgate, Kent |
6 July 1861 Danapur, Bihar, India |
Reginald “Reggie” Drake Oldest surviving son |
16 June 1844 Berhampore, Bengal, India |
24 June 1904 Surbiton Hill, Surrey |
Lt. Col. Reginald John Drake DSO Oldest son |
2 February 1876 Mozufferpore, Bengal, India |
15 February 1948 Bournemouth, Dorset |
John Barnard “Bar” Drake Oldest son |
1 September 1912 Paddington, Middlesex |
August 1993 Chichester, Sussex |
Bar Drake did not have any children. On his death, the Bible passed to his wife, Elizabeth Stafford Cothay, and, on her death in 2010, it passed to a friend. The friend sold the Bible and other family memorabilia to an antique dealer who, seeking a suitable home for the material, approached us via the web site.
The places of birth and death of the owners give some indication of where the Bible may have travelled.
The genealogical information recorded in the Bible is very interesting and invaluable to anyone researching the Drake family. The records are presented below along with transcripts. There is a fair bit of repetition. Some appear to be by later generations repeating earlier information with additional information. Some appear to be attempts to record the content of the deteriorating front pages at the back of the book.
The book
Click on the images to get an expanded view.
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©Alun Stevens 2018 |
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©Alun Stevens 2018 |
The records
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John Minshull Drake married 22nd May 1838 Their issue Alfred Edwin born at Delhi 19 Augst 1840 & died Alice born at Delhi 20th Augst 1841 Lucy born at Barrackpore 21 April 1843 Reginald born at Berhampore 16 June 1844 Dennys born at Lucknow 25 April 1846 The above Caroline Drake died at Landour John Minshull Drake married secondly Emlyn Augusta born at Lahore May 1st 1857 Edith Maria born at Lahore 23rd Sept 1854 – __________________________ John Minshull Drake died at Dinapore Alice Drake married 6th Novr 1861 Capn Robert Lucy Drake Married 15 Jany 1863 Charles Fletcher Dennys Drake married 15 June 1871 Sarah McLean West Reginald Drake married. 187 |
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Phil Drake 1749 – John Drake was Born the Eleventh day of December 1743 – Philip Drake was Born the Seventh day of September 1746 William Drake was Born the Twenty seventh day of Jany 1748 William Drake was Born the Twenty eigth of August 1750 Thomas Drake was Born the Seventh day of July 1752 John Drake died December the Twenty sixth 1797 and Philip Drake. Father of the above died June the 20th 1760 |
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John Drake was Married October the Twelvth 1768 Sarah Drake was Born the Twenty ninth of April 1772 Mary Honoria Drake Drake was Born Jany the 13th 1774 Elizabeth Filmore Drake was Born JanY the 13th 1776 William Hobbs Drake was Born April the 19th 1779 †John Drake was Born Novr 11th 1782 Edward Drake was Born Jany 14th 1786 Mary Honoria Drake Died Feby 3d 1779 Elizabeth Filmore Drake Died Decbr 1st 1780 & was Buried Edward Drake died August 19th 1786 & was Buried the 26th William Hobbs Drake. Died at Madras August 29th 1803 Sarah White Died Sept 5th 1828 – was buried Sarah Drake the above named Sarah Matthew White died at Plymouth March 11th |
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Sarah Drake was Married the 5th of March 1792 to Matthew White of their issue are as follows – Charlotte White Born December the Sixth – – 1792 William Drake White Born May the 17th – – 1794 Emily White Born May 30th – – 1795 Louisa Harriet White Born July 9th – – 1796 George Adams White Born May 21st – – 1798 Maria Caroline White Born August 17th – – 1799 Sarah Anne White Born April 30th – – 1801 Matthew White Born Augst 12th – – 1802 Henry Agar White Born Decbr 29th – – 1803 Eleanor Sophia White Born June 21st – – 1805 Charles Edward White Born Sept 30th – – 1806 Augusta Matilda White Born Decbr 11th – – 1808 Daniel White Born June 21st – – 1810 Matilda White Born October 3d – – 1811 Edward Marshall White Born Novbr 15th – – 1812 Frederick James White Born Decembr 8th – – 1813 Arthur White Born |
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† John Drake ^born in Nov 1782 died June 24th 1867 – at 27 Park Village East, Maria, his wife died Feby 13th 1876 at 3 (late 27) Park Village East Wm Henry Drake (KCB) died January 1882 & was Charlotte Augusta Drake died at 83 Gordon Road |
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George Adams White Died Matilda White Died Jany 30th 1812 & was Buried at St Annes Westmin Eleanor Sophia White died at Sydenham July Matthew White, died 3rd March 1842 Charles Edward White died 16 Septr 1850 at Brighton Sarah Anne White died at Brighton Decr 6th 1866 William Drake White died at Brighton May 29th 1867 – Emily White died Charlotte White died December 26th 1875 at Brighton |
Page 16 – ©Alun Stevens 2018 |
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Caroline daughter of John & Maria Drake Charles William their Son was born at Godfathers William Drake White Esquire of Emily Charlotte their daughter born at Chudleigh Emily Charlotte their third child born at Chudleigh Maria Caroline born at Chudleigh March 1st 1843 – |
Page 17 – ©Alun Stevens 2018 |
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John Minshull Drake was married on the 22nd Alfred Edwin their son born at Delhi East Indies Alice their daughter born at Delhi August Lucy, born at Barrackpore 21st April 1843 – Reginald born at Berhampore 16th June 1844 – Dennys, born at Lucknow 25th April 1846 – Caroline – wife of John Minshull Drake died John Minshull Drake married secondly Their issue are as follows. Emlyn Augusta Born May 1st 1851 Edith Maria Born Sept 23 1854 – John Minshull Drake died at Dinapore in Bengal |
Page 18 – ©Alun Stevens 2018 |
Footnotes
1. Caroline was born in Dublin as noted by John Minshull Drake in his diary where he recorded that, “I was married at St. Leonard’s Church, Exeter by the Revd Houlditch, to Caroline, B. 10 Nov 1812 – at Dublin daughter of Captain. Grimes R.H.A.” ▲
©Alun Stevens 2018
I’m so pleased to have chanced on this. Thank you! I have been starting to untangle my old sketched out family trees and what I can find online and the bible information promises to answer a lot of the questions. I am a descendant of John Minshull Drake via his son Dennys who was my mother’s grandfather.
Hello, Sarah. I am quite excited to see that you’re a descendant of John Minshull Drake as so am I! His daughter Lucy Fletcher, née Drake, was my mother’s father’s mother i.e. my maternal paternal great-grandmother. I note you mention having lots of family trees, so I presume you’re an ‘old hand’ at ‘Drake’ research – as am I … most of my mainstream research on this line was done a good many years ago, but I still keep finding interesting new snippets. Most of the names in this Bible, whose existence I became aware of over 10 years ago, are familiar to me. Would you be interested in comparing notes on matters of mutual ‘Drake’ interest to see if you and I can fill gaps in each other’s knowledge? I have a lot of documentary material and charts, but these days I am on the lookout more for old family photos and/or other memorabilia. If you’d like to take up my offer we’d need to find a way to communicate more directly, I think. I’ll wait to hear from you! ’Bye for now. Alan.