Edmund Andros

Sir Edmund Andros

Sir Edmund Andros (December 6, 1637 - February 24, 1714), was an early colonial governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England. Andros was not a popular governor, and at one point was placed under arrest and forced to return to England.

Andros was born in London on December 6, 1637, son of Amice Andros, an adherent of Charles I, and the royal bailiff of the island of Guernsey. He served for a short time in the army of Prince Henry of Nassau, and in 1660-1662 was gentleman in ordinary to the queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England. He then served against the Dutch, and in 1672 was commissioned major in what is said to have been the first English regiment armed with the bayonet.

In 1674 he became, by the appointment of the Duke of York (who later became James II), governor of New York and the Jerseys, though his jurisdiction over the Jerseys was disputed, and until his recall in 1681 to meet an unfounded charge of dishonesty and favouritism in the collection of the revenues, he proved himself to be a capable administrator. His imperious disposition, however, rendered him quite unpopular among the colonists. Anthony Brockholls was acting Governor from 1681 to 1683 until Thomas Dongan arrived in America. Dongan remained at the post until 1688 when Andros returned to the post and remained until 1689. As Andros was Governor of the Dominion of New England, day to day activities in New York were assigned to Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson from 1688 to 1689.

During a visit to England in 1678 he was knighted. In 1686 he became governor, with Boston as his capital, of the Dominion of New England, into which Massachusetts (including Maine), Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire were consolidated, and in 1688 his jurisdiction was extended over New York and the Jerseys. He practiced an arbitrary government in which he limited the legislature, limited towns to a single annual meeting, and enforced toleration of Anglicans and the Navigation Acts. Andros angered the Puritan colonists of Boston by openly affiliating with the Church of England. They were also angered by his noisy, "sinning" soldiers. But his vexatious interference with colonial rights and customs aroused the keenest resentment, and on April 18, 1689, soon after news of the arrival of William, Prince of Orange, in England reached Boston, the colonists deposed and arrested him. The arresting officer was Jonas Bond of Watertown a militia Colonel, Justice of the Peace and member of the General Court. The Bonds Jonas and his father William (soon elected Speaker of the General Court) were members of the Church of England but sided with the colonists. In New York his deputy, Francis Nicholson, was soon afterwards deposed by Jacob Leisler; and the inter-colonial union was dissolved.

Andros was sent to England for trial in 1690, but was immediately released without trial, and from 1692 until 1698 he was governor of Virginia, but was recalled through the agency of Commissary James Blair, with whom he quarrelled. In 1693-1694 he was also governor of Maryland. From 1704 to 1706 he was governor of Guernsey. He died in London on February 24, 1714 and was buried at St. Anne's, Soho.

References

• The Andros tracts: being a collection of pamphlets and official papers issued during the period between the overthrow of the Andros government and the establishment of the second charter of Massachusetts. (1868-1874). Boston, The Prince society.

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)