Background
Andrew Fletcher was the son and heir of Sir Robert Fletcher (1625–1664), and was born at Saltoun in East Lothian in 1655.
Andrew Fletcher was the son and heir of Sir Robert Fletcher (1625–1664), and was born at Saltoun in East Lothian in 1655.
Educated by Gilbert Burnet, the future Bishop of Salisbury, who was then minister at Saltoun, he completed his education in mainland Europe.
Fletcher was elected, as the Commissioner for Haddingtonshire, to the Scottish Parliament in 1678. At this time, Charles II's representative in Scotland was John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale. In 1681, Fletcher was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament as member for Haddingtonshire.
He left Scotland about 1682, subsequently spending some time in Holland as an associate of the duke of Monmouth and other malcontents. Although on grounds of prudence Fletcher objected to the rising of 1685, he accompanied Monmouth to the west of England, but left the army after killing one of the duke's trusted advisers.
In 1703, at a critical stage in the history of Scotland, Fletcher again became a member of the Scottish Parliament as member for Haddingtonshire. Now Queen Anne was on the throne and there was a campaign to join England and Scotland in a parliamentary union, thus closing the "back door" to England that Scotland represented.
In 1707, the Act of Union was approved by the Scottish Parliament, officially uniting Scotland with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Fletcher turned from politics in despair and devoted the rest of his life to farming and agricultural development in Scotland. He died in London in September 1716.
Scottish Parliament
He died unmarried.