Andreu family of East Florida

Hilda Merle Thomas, born c1900 in St Augustine, Florida descends from the Andreu family who immigrated from Minorca, Spain to the British colony in East Florida.

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Early History of East Florida

Other than the military post in St Augustine, Spain's efforts to settle East Florida were unsuccessful.
Under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War), Spain ceded Spanish Florida to Britain.
In 1783, Great Britain retro-ceded East Florida to Spain (During the Revolutionary War, Spain side with the Americans against Great Britain.)

One of the largest colonization attempts in East Florida during the British Period was Andrew Turnbull’s New Smyrna Plantation. Turnbull, a Scottish physician, along with his absentee partners, Sir William Duncan and Lord George Grenville, held title to over 100,000 acres of land at the Mosquettos in the area of the present day New Smyrna and Edgewater communities in St Johns County, Florida.

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The British colony at Les Mesquites in East Florida

Andrew Turnbull, a Scottish-born physician and wealthy member of the East Florida Society in London which was formed in 1766, conceived a plan to bring colonists of Greek, Italian, Minorcan and Turkish origins to Florida in the hopes of cultivating the land. He was given a grant of approximately 20,000 acres of land about 70 miles south of St. Augustine, Florida.

On March 31, 1768, a fleet consisting of eight ships left Mahon, Minorca with over 1400 passengers. The fleet arrived in Gibraltar on April 3, 1768, then left Gibraltar on April 17, 1768. Of the 1403 passengers who had left Gibraltar, only 1,255 managed to reach the coast of East Florida as 148 of them perished on the high seas.

Four of the ships which carried some 700 immigrants, arrived in St Augustine, Florida on June 26, 1768. The other four vessels had been carried off course by strong currents, but they eventually reached St Augustine during the month of July, 1768.

The Minorcans’ contract with the British colonizers came under the Indentured Servant Law. Each was to serve 6 to 8 years and at the end of that time, would receive 50 acres of land, plus five acres for each child. However, under the arrangement with Turnbull, money spent to support the settlers (which was below what was being spent in other British colonies) was considered debt to be repaid by the settlers before the period of time served would start.

The colony was not self sufficient. Food and supplies needed to be secured from St Augustine and from the British colonies in Georgia and South Carolina, as well as London. Shortly after the arrival there was a rebellion which was put down. Each settler was assigned hundred feet front on the River and the acreage behind to farm. The colony stretched about seven or eight miles along the Hillsborough River.

The colony came to an end in 1777. In the face of extreme adversities (inadequate shelter, lack of food, insufficient clothing, and the cruel treatment by Andrew Turnbull and his overseers) the colony had lasted nine years. Some of the colonists went to St. Augustine and met with the Governor, who showed great empathy for their plight. (The Governor and Turnbull were political rivals, and there was a fear that Turnbull and his followers might join the Americans in the Revolutionary War.)

As a result of the complaints, the governor permitted the colony to come to St. Augustine "en masse" which they did in July 1777. The total number of Minorcans that arrived in St. Augustine was a far cry from the number left Minorca nine years prior. There were 1403 that left Minorca in those eight ships and in the ensuing nine years 930 died. With new births in that same period, there were 600 who fled to St. Augustine in 1777.

The Minorcans were relocated in an area north of the plaza in St. Augustine. Also, they were given some small plots outside the city gates on the north side of the city. They returned to the Mediterranean style arrangement: going out to their vegetable plots during the day and returning to town in the evening.

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The Andreu family

Jaime Andreu married Martina Coll in Spain. They lived near the French border.
One of their sons, Juan Jose Andreu (born Feb 14, 1717) married Maria Angela Caules on Oct 13, 1737. Juan and Maria moved to the island of Minorca (first to Fornells, and then to Mercadel).

Juan and Maria Andreu and five of their children (including the youngest, Tomas Andreu) immigrated to East Florida with the Turnbull group. Juan Andreu died in Les Mesquites (New Smyrna), and in 1777 when the colony disbanded, his widow, Maria, at age sixty relocated to St Augustine, where she died in 1805.

Hilda Merle Thomas, born c1900 in St Augustine, Florida descends from the Andreu family who immigrated from Minorca, Spain to the British colony in East Florida.

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