[2] He and his brother, William, moved to Barbados as children around 1642,[3] and Sandford stated he was ignorant of English ways in a pamphlet he wrote called Suriname Justice.
Byam accused Sandford that under the cover of a mission to recover runaway slaves he threatened to go to St Vincent with the soldiers and native-born Americans.
Sandford accused Byam and his associate, George Marten, of crimes against the rights of the settlers as Englishmen, and of "atheism, license, and abuse of due process".
[4] In November 1664, he was created agent and secretary for Clarindon County, Carolina for Lord Proprietor Sir John Colleton.
Hilton and Sandford both praised the area for it fertility and suitability, Sandford saying, "[W]ee doe assure Our selves that a Colony of English here planted, with a moderate support in their Infant tendency, would in a very short time improve themselves to a perfect Common Wealth … which for its Scite and produccons would be of more advantage to … [England and] the King … the any (wee may say all) his other Dominions in America".