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Miles Peter Andrews (1742 – 18 July 1814) was an 18th-century English playwright, gunpowder manufacturer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1796 to 1814.
Andrews was the son of William Andrews, a drysalter of Watling Street and his wife Catherine Pigou. After helping his father in business in the day time, he was "accustomed to sally forth in the evening with sword and bag to Ranelagh or some other public place". He gradually made useful social connections and became a constant companion of Lord Lyttelton. He wrote plays musicals and operas. The first was performed at 
In 1796 Andrews succeeded Lord Lyttleton as Member of Parliament for Bewdley which he represented until his death in 1814.History of Parliament Online - Miles Peter Andrews
/ref> There is a memorial to him in St James's Church, Piccadilly.
Biography
Andrews was the son of William Andrews, a drysalter of Watling Street and his wife Catherine Pigou. After helping his father in business in the day time, he was "accustomed to sally forth in the evening with sword and bag to Ranelagh or some other public place". He gradually made useful social connections and became a constant companion of Lord Lyttelton. He wrote plays musicals and operas. The first was performed at Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
in 1774. In 1775 the opera diva Ann Cargill aged 15 ran away with him and she then had to be restrained at home by a court order. Andrews had several further plays performed at the Haymarket. Andrews lived in a mansion at Green Park where he entertained the fashionable society of London, and was a member of several clubs.
With his uncle Frederick Pigou, a director of the British East India Company, Andrews became the owner of an extensive gunpowder factory at Hawley Mills on the River Darent at Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and
is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...
, Kent.
George Colman the Younger described Andrews as "one of the most persevering poetical pests", and his plays as "like his powder mills, particularly hazardous affairs, and in great danger of going off with a sudden and violent explosion". This was no idle comparison as an explosion occurred in October 1790.''The World'' 14 October 1790
:"Between four and five o'clock this afternoon (October 12th 1790) the people here, and in the neighbourhood, were terribly alarmed by the blowing up of Mr Pegu (sic)'s Powder Mills, within a short mile of this town.."
In 1796 Andrews succeeded Lord Lyttleton as Member of Parliament for Bewdley which he represented until his death in 1814.History of Parliament Online - Miles Peter Andrews/ref> There is a memorial to him in St James's Church, Piccadilly.
Works
* ''The Conjuror - a farce'' -Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
1774
* ''The Election - a musical interlude'' - Drury Lane 1774
* ''Belphegor, or the Wishes, a comic opera'' - Drury Lane 1778
* ''Summer Amusement, or an Adventure at Margate'', written with William Augustus Miles
William Augustus Miles (c. 1753–1817) was an English political writer. He was also a British agent in the years around the French Revolution.
He is not to be confused with William Augustus Miles (1798–1851), penitentiary reformer.
Early life
...
, - the Haymarket 1779
* ''Fire and Water, a ballad opera'', - the Haymarket in 1780
* ''Dissipation, a comedy'' - Drury Lane 1781;
* ''The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern
''The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern'' is an 18th-century comic opera written by English composer Samuel Arnold and English playwright Miles Peter Andrews (died 1814).
The opera was based on a novel by Lady Craven. It was published in L ...
, a musical comedy'' - the Haymarket 1781
* ''The Best Bidder, a farce'' - the Haymarket 1782
* ''Reparation, a comedy'' - Drury Lane 1784
* ''Better Late than Never'' - Drury Lane 1790
* ''The Mysteries of the Castle'' - Covent Garden 1795.
Notes
References
*External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Miles Peter 1742 births 1814 deaths English dramatists and playwrights English businesspeople Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Place of birth unknown Place of death missing Date of birth unknown English male dramatists and playwrights