The reverse of this card provides us with the fact that "Francis Drake was born at Tavistock, Devon, 1540."
In fact we do not know when he was born, only that it was at his father`s farm, and that he was one of twelve children. His birth year is only guessed at from words written about him, whilst he was alive, and there are many different years that these relate to. The date of 1540, which is given here, and often elsewhere, is entirely attributed to a miniature painting by the renowned Nicholas Hilliard, at which time our man said he was forty-two years of age, but he may well have been cagey about his age, wanting to appear younger, or older.
A quick look at other cigarette cards of Francis Drake show this confusion. Taddy`s "Autographs" (1912), No.12, gives 1539. Brooke Bond`s "Adventurers and Explorers", No.13, gives us 1453. And both W.D. & H.O. Wills` "Builders of Empire" (1898), No.3, (which is usually credited as his "Rookie" card) and Ogdens/Players "Leaders of Men" (1924 and 1925), No.16, have 1545.
Now there is another discrepancy, because though Brooke Bond`s "Discovering Our Coasts" (1989) No.28, states "Born in Devon of poor parents", and many other sources say that he was but a simple farmer`s son, this seems to have been no ordinary farmer, for he had some notable connections - minor nobility, and sea captain William Hawkins, son of John Hawkins, into whose care Francis Drake was placed whilst still quite young.
There is often spoken of a link between William Hawkins and Francis Drake`s mother, in that she was his daughter, but there is no concrete proof of this. Indeed, when William Hawkins died it is only recorded that he left two sons. Some say that this omission simply reflects the lack of importance of the female sex in those days, whilst others believe this daughter was not his wife`s. Now if Francis Drake was blood, through whichever of these paths, then it would explain William Hawkins` willingness to take him in - though his actual wife may have not been quite so understanding of the second.
In addition, when our man was nine years old, his father moved the whole family to Kent, and became a vicar, which points to him being rather more learned than a simple farmer - especially as just before that, he was also appointed Minister to the King`s Navy.
As this is the first appearance of this set as a Card of the Day, it seems fitting to make this its home page, to where all the other ten back versions will eventually link back.
The entry in our original World Tobacco Issues Index reads :
FAMOUS EXPLORERS. Sm. Nd. (50). Vari-backed, 11 wordings - see C.W. page 268 or N. & N. Vol. 8, page 89 ... S84-7
These two abbreviations lead to magazines, "C.W." being "Cartophilic World", which was our official magazine, and "N. & N." being "Notes and News", which was the name of the magazine belonging to the Cameric Cigarette Card Club. In 1965 both these card collecting communities merged, and it was decided to immortalise both magazines into one, by calling the next edition "Cartophilic Notes and News". Now I only have a few editions of the Cameric Notes and News, but I do have a complete run of "Cartophilic World"s, so I will fetch that edition in a minute.
These magazines were true ephemera, designed to be read but not entirely to be kept forever. They also suffered much from the rusting of the staples. So when the World Tobacco Issues Index was updated, for the Millennium, it was thought to be unlikely that too many collectors would have access to those early magazines. And so this listing reads simply :
FAMOUS EXPLORERS. Sm. Nd. (50). Vari-backed, 11 wordings. ... S548-180
After writing this I got my "Cartophilic World"s and looked. Page 285 is in Volume 3, No.34, dated December 1945, and it is part of a series by Charles Lane Bagnall, which reads :
Smith`s Issues - By C.L.B. (continued from page 264).
FAMOUS EXPLORERS
Series of 50. Issue date approx. October, 1911.Advertisements on backs.
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Albion Gold Flake Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Pinewood Cigarettes
- Kashan Cigarettes
- Kashan Cigarettes
- Kashan Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Studio Cigarettes
- Sun Cured Mixture
- Sun Cured Mixture
- Ancestral Mixture
- Luxury Mixture
- Luxury Mixture
- Cut Golden Bar "Twilight"
- Cut Golden Bar "Twilight"
- Orchestral Cigarettes
- Orchestral Cigarettes
- Orchestral Cigarettes
- Glasgow Mixture. Mild, etc
- Glasgow Mixture. Mild, etc
- Glasgow Mixture. Mild, etc
- Glasgow Mixture. Mild, etc
- Glasgow Mixture. Mild, etc
A cursory look through the internet seems to support this list, and point to the fact that this set had one back per card, as listed above. There is an error, for cards 43-45, which ought to read "Orchestra" not Orchestral.
The end of the article says "Will any reader with variations of the above please make a point of reporting them, as the information now published is to form the basis of a reference book." Now this was written in December 1945, and there was, indeed, work done on this book. In fact it was even mentioned at the back of the Lambert & Butler Reference Book, RB.9, which was published in 1948, as part of a "Suggested grouping to complete Part 1 of Programme - British Issuers", section 8 of which reads "Mitchell, Smith". And the reason for teaming the two was that in 1927 the two Glaswegian companies of F. & J. Smith and Stephen Mitchell & Son were combined. Sadly, this book never came to fruition.