He was a close friend of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, who on one occasion lodged part of his captured treasure at Radford.

"[15] As a set of relatively plain objects, of which the bullion value may have exceeded the artistic worth, this service represents "the unique survival of a type of utilitarian plate which is listed in the inventories of the gentry and aristocracy of the late Tudor and early Stuart periods.

31 pieces were "commissioned to mark the conquering of the Spanish naval fleet and used at a dinner thrown" at Harris's seat at Radford.

[16] Some modern scholars have suggested a connection to the Madre de Deus (Mother of God), a Portuguese ship captured by the English in 1592.

[13] At an auction at Lawrence's of Crewkerne in Somerset, Dickenson acquired for a client two related pieces for £135,000, which had been exported to the southern United States before being repatriated to England.