SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND THE PLYMOUTH CORPORATION. 513 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND THE PLYMOUTH 
CORPORATION. 
SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS AND DOCUMENTS. 
BY MR. R. N. WORTH, F.G.S. 
Since the publication of my paper on the relations of Sir Francis 
Drake and the Plymouth Corporation, and the early history of the 
Plymouth Water Supply, several additional facts have come to 
light, partly in casual fashion, and partly as the result of further 
research. All have interest, some considerable value ; and the repro- 
duction of these is essential to that full statement of contemporary 
evidence which it has been my aim to make, so that, whether my 
views are accepted or not, all who are concerned in the discussion 
may be placed in as favourable a position for decision as myself. In 
that spirit I purpose therefore to continue my narrative. 
And first with regard to the Water Act. I have already stated 
that the Corporation Records, while showing that Christopher 
Harris, one of the members for the borough, was in charge of the 
measure in the House of Commons (as proved by the payments to 
him), do not mention Drake in this connection, and that there was 
neither "room nor need for his interference." My friend Mr. J. 
B. Davidson, of Lincoln's Inn, has fortunately found in the journals 
of Sir Simonds d'Ewes* a series of entries which show precisely, 
without room for any suppositions, what Drake's position with 
regard to the Bill was. We read : — 
* The Journals of all the Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth 
. . . collected by Sir Simonds d'Ewes. London, 1682. 
D'Ewes compiled from several sources — the diaries of private members, and 
the official journals of the House of Commons, since lost. I am indebted to 
Mr. Davidson for the extracts. 
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