 One of three sons, his father was a fisherman and handloom weaver.He became an apprentice to a blacksmith in Sandhead, worked as a lighthouse keeper on Lismore, then as an ironworker at Smith and McLean's on the Clyde shipyards before finally setting up on his own as a blacksmith at 113 High Street in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, when he was 25.In 1892 at the age of 30 Andrew married Euphemia Martin at Glecknabae Farm on Bute.