An article appeared in The London
Times of April 7, 1880, about Captain
Wake and his ancestry.
According to James K. Nesbitt, after Captain Wake's
disappearance, the Victoria Daily Colonist printed the following article:
"The late Captain Wake was
the son of the Baldwin Wake, MD, and the grandson of
Mr. Drury Wake of Courteenhall, Northamptonshire. He
was born in January, 1813, entered the navy in 1827,
as a first-class volunteer on board the Espoir and
was employed for some time at the Cape of Good Hope.
He afterwards joined the Falcon on the West Indian
Station, and subsequently served on the Forester and
also the San Josef and the Racehorse. On His
promotion to a lieutenancy in 1837, he joined
Melville, bearing the flag of Sir Peter Halkett, the
commander in chief of the North America and West
India squadron. He was promoted to the rank of
commander in 1849 and became a captain in the retired
list in 1866. The gallant officer was several
times instrumental in saving life at sea, and his
heroic conduct on those occasions was acknowledged by
the Royal Humane Society and the Royal Shipwreck
Institution."