The son of John Gandy of South Brent, Devon, he was born on 14 October 1649; his father was a priest of the Church of England who had been deprived of his living during the English Civil War.
[2] Gandy was senior fellow of Oriel when he was deprived for refusing the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II, in 1690.
As a nonjuror he was a leading if anonymous controversialist; and advocated for maintaining the schism in the Church of England, when Thomas Ken, the sole survivor of the original deprived bishops, in 1710 expressed a wish that the breach should be closed.
When the divisive issue of "usages" arose in 1717, he left Collier's party, and followed Spinckes in staying close to Anglican ritual.
[2] Gandy died in Scroop's Court, Holborn, the location of his chapel, on 26 February 1734, and was buried in St Pancras churchyard.