Andrews emigrated to South Australia, arriving there 14 December 1852 aboard the steamship Sydney.
He practised in the Local Court at Mount Barker, South Australia and then set up an office in Adelaide.
In June 1857 he was elected to the House of Assembly for Yatala and was Attorney-General of South Australia in the Torrens ministry from 1 to 30 September.
In private life he was an amateur viticulturist, planting 17 acres (69,000 m2) of vines; he made some good wines during the 1860s.
The Hundred of Andrews, proclaimed in 1864, an agricultural district straddling the Hill River near Spalding, was named after him.