Researching Andrew Turnbull

In partnership with Sir William Duncan he secured a grant of 40,000 acres (160 km) of land on the east coast of the peninsula, with the requirement from the British government that it be settled within 10 years in the proportion of one person for every . In 1765 he sailed to St. Augustine, Florida, the capital of the province, and secured the grant from Governor James Grant. The land was located at what is now New Smyrna Beach about south of St. Augustine. Turnbull then returned to England, secured financing for his forthcoming venture through bounties from the government and the Board of Trade, and subsequently sailed for the Mediterranean to find colonists "for a Tract of Land in East Florida on which I might settle a small Colony of Greeks," as Turnbull explained in a letter to Lord Shelburne.

One of Turnbull's prospective partners in the venture was Francis Levett, an English factor working in Livorno for the Levant Company. From a powerful English mercantile family with extensive trading connections, Levett hoped to use his influence in the Levant to supply Greek laborers to Turnbull's new colony. Levett then left London, where he had relocated, and settled in British East Florida, where he was granted a plantation by Governor Grant. His collaboration with Turnbull apparently came to naught.

In June 1767, Turnbull arrived with his ships in the Mediterranean, where he visited Mahon, Menorca; Livorno, Italy; Smyrna, Asia Minor; Melos, Mani, Koroni, Methoni in Greece; Crete; Santorini; and Corsica. He encountered opposition from French, Italian, and Turkish authorities, who did not want to see their subjects leave, but after persistent efforts, he finally rounded up over 1,400 colonists, the majority from Menorca, and left for his new colony in East Florida.

Turnbull's settlers eventually succeeded in producing crops of high quality indigo, hemp and sugarcane for making rum, but the plantation suffered major losses due to insect-borne diseases and Native American raids. Meanwhile, tensions grew between Turnbull and the colonists because of his neglect and mistreatment by his overseers. The remaining colonists marched north in 1777 to St. Augustine along the King's Road to complain of this mistreatment to Governor Patrick Tonyn, and permanently abandoned New Smyrna when he offered them sanctuary. In 1783 Florida was returned to the Spanish, and Turnbull left his plantation to retire in Charleston, South Carolina.

Turnbull was educated at George Watson's College. He represented both Scotland and Great Britain at rugby sevens, including the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and scored more tries for Scotland in sevens than any other player, including 19 in 2005 and 118 tries on the HSBC Sevens World Series alone. Turnbull also played for Watsonians and the Scottish Institute of Sport, and played for Scotland U19, Scotland U21, and the Barbarian F.C..

Turnbull was one of the first professional sevens players when Graham Shiel named him in his 2011/12 Scotland 7s squad, and he remained a core player with Scotland 7s under Phil Greening on the 2012/13 circuit.

As well as Scotland 7s, Turnbull has representative honours with Scotland A and was also contracted to Edinburgh Rugby prior to signing with the national squad.

The winger scored 151 tries and one conversion – against Argentina on the Gold Coast in 2013 – in 57 World Series events from 2004 to 2014, as well as playing in three Rugby World Cup 7s (Hong Kong 2005, Dubai 2009, Moscow 2013) and two Commonwealth Games (Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010).