Born in an English enclave in The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, he also lived in Surinam, Barbados and East Jersey.
The brothers lost a power struggle with Governor William Byam and were tried on charges tantamount to sedition.
[6] In 1668, William acquired the first land grant awarded in New Barbadoes, a tract of 15,308 acres (23.92 square miles).
In 1680 he commanded the garrison at Elizabethtown in a tense engagement with leaders of New York as they moved to take control over New Jersey.
As he departed Surinam in 1667, Sandford married Sarah Whartman in a shipboard ceremony that was kept secret for at least ten years.