History

A memorial to Sir Francis Chichester, Captain James Cook and Sir Francis Drake was unveiled in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey on 4 October 1979. All three had circumnavigated the globe by sea in different eras.The mosaic of coloured marbles within the oval memorial shows a map of the world on which are three ships. Three different coloured lines trace the routes taken by the navigators. In the stone border are sculptured doves, dolphins and an oak and laurel branch. The sculptor was Eric Fraser and the Latin inscription around the border can be translated:

"Circumnavigators of the world. Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook, Sir Francis Chichester"

Francis was a son of Charles Chichester, vicar of Shirwell in Devon and his wife Emily (Page) and was born on 17 September 1901. Educated at Marlborough College he emigrated to New Zealand and eventually started an aviation business. In 1929 he flew solo from Europe to Australia. During the war he was a navigation officer. He married Muriel Blakiston -their son George died in 1967. His second wife was Sheila Craven and they had a son Giles. He won the single-handed transatlantic race and sailed round the world in Gypsy Moth IV in 1966-67 at the age of 65. In 1967 he was knighted by the Queen with Sir Francis Drake's sword and he died on 26 August 1972.

A photo of the memorial can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.

Further reading:

"The lonely sea and the sky" autobiography, 1964

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004.