Edmund Andros - Governor of Virginia

Governor of Virginia

Andros was well received at court upon his return to England. The king in particular recalled that Andros had visited his court in the Netherlands, and expressed approval of Andros' service. In search of employment, Andros offered his services as a spy, offering the idea of going to Paris, ostensibly to meet with the exiled James, but to actually attempt to acquire French military plans. This plan was rejected. While in England he married for the second time, to Elizabeth Crisp Clapham, in July 1691. She was the widow of Christopher Clapham, who was connected by that marriage to his first wife's family.

Andros' next opportunity for employment came with the resignation in February 1692 of Lord Effingham as governor of the Province of Virginia. Although Francis Nicholson, formerly dominion lieutenant governor, was then serving as lieutenant governor or Virginia and sought the superior position, William awarded the governorship to Andros, and awarded Nicholson yet another lieutenant governorship, this time that of Maryland. This was destined to make Andros' tenure more difficult, because his relationship with Nicholson had deteriorated for other reasons. The exact reasons for this enmity are unclear: one contemporary wrote that Nicholson "especially Sir Edmund Andros, against whom he has a particular pique on account of some earlier dealings".

Andros arrived in Virginia on September 13, 1692, and began his duties a week later. Nicholson graciously received him, and not long after sailed for England. Andros settled at Middle Plantation (the future site of Williamsburg), where he would live until 1695. He worked to organize the provincial records, the maintenance of which had suffered since Bacon's Rebellion, and promoted the enforcement of laws designed to prevent slave rebellions.

He encouraged the diversification of Virginia's economy, which was then almost entirely dependent on tobacco. The export-oriented economy was also being badly hurt by the ongoing Nine Years' War, because of which merchant ships were required to travel in convoys. For several years Virginia did not receive any military escorts, so their products were not going to market in Europe. Andros encouraged the introduction of new crops like cotton and flax, and the manufacture of fabric.

Virginia was the first colonial posting in which Andros had to work with a local assembly. His relationship with the House of Burgesses was generally cordial, but he encountered some resistance, especially to measures related to the war and colonial defenses. He hired armed vessels to patrol the colony's waters and contributed financially to New York's colonial defenses, which formed a bulwark against the possibility of French and Indian incursions into Virginia. In 1696 Andros was ordered by the king to send troops to New York, for which the burgesses reluctantly appropriated £1,000. Andros' management of colonial defense and Indian relations were successful: Virginia, unlike New York and New England, was not attacked during the war.

During his tenure, Andros made an enemy of James Blair, a prominent Anglican minister. Blair was working to establish a new college for educating Anglican ministers, and he believed that Andros was not supportive of the idea. However, Blair and Nicholson worked closely together on this idea, with Nicholson often coming from Maryland for meetings on the subject. The two men were united in their dislike of Andros, and their activities helped to cause Andros' resignation. The College of William and Mary was founded in 1693. Despite Blair's claims that Andros was unsupportive, Andros donated the cost of the bricks to construct the college's chapel from his own funds, and convinced the House of Burgesses to approve funding of £100 per year for the college.

Blair's complaints, many of them vague and inaccurate, made their way to London, where proceedings into Andros' conduct began at the Board of Trade and the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England in 1697. Andros had lost most of his support on the Board of Trade when a Whig faction came to power, and his advocates were unable to sway the board in favor of him. Anglican bishops staunchly supported Blair and Nicholson. In March 1698 Andros, complaining of fatigue and illness, asked to be recalled.