James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe was born one of ten children of Eleanor and Theophilus Oglethorpe, in London, England on December 22, 1696. The Oglethorpes' owned property in Godalming, near London, and James Edward Oglethorpe grew up on the family estate, Westbrook Manor, in that same location. James grew up in comfort. He was admitted to Oxford University at the age of 18, but dropped out to join the fight against the Turks, where he became an aide to Prince Eugene of Savoy.

In 1722, at the age of 25, James Oglethorpe sucessfully ran for Parliament and occupied the same seat that his father and two of his brothers had also held.

During Oglethorpe's early years in Parliament, the practice of putting someone in prison for their inability to pay debts (or debtor's prison) was still going strong. Robert Castell, one of Oglethorpe's friends had been placed in prison because he was unable to pay his debts. In 1728, Castell was put into a cell with a prisoner who had smallpox, causing Castell's death of the same disease. This senseless death caused Oglethorpe to begin the investigation of prison conditions and practices. As a result of his research, steps were taken to institute prison reforms.

A reformer was born!

James Oglethorpe understood that prison reforms did not resolve the fact that there was a great deal of poverty in England at the time. Along with other friends from of Parliament, Oglethorpe began exploring the possibility of a social experiment - taking some of the poor, unemployed workers from England to establish an English colony between Charles Town and the Spanish settlements in Florida. The group of investors successfully petitioned King George II and Oglethorpe was named as one of the Trustees of the new colony. He also accompanied the first boatload of settlers to their new home.

Although the charter required him not to hold any kind of office in the colony, Oglethorpe was the leader of the colony. Not only was the vision of this colony his, but he worked tirelessly to make the colony successful. During a brief fund-raising visit to London in 1737, Oglethorpe was able to convince King George to give him the rank of colonel in the Army and allow him to take a regiment of soldiers back to Georgia with him. As the threat of invasion from the Spanish in St. Augustine increased, Oglethorpe redoubled his efforts toward the defense of the Georgia colonies. Battles with the Spanish ensued, and the colonists, with Oglethorpe as their leader, were successful in rebuffing the enemy.

In 1743, Oglethorpe was summoned back to London to face allegations of misconduct brought by one of the soldiers in his regiment. By the next year, Oglethorpe was cleared of all charges, but instead of returning to Georgia, he met and married Lady Elizabeth Wright. In 1745, he resumed his military career.

Over the years, Oglethorpe's participation as a Trustee of the Georgia colony began to fade - especially as the other Trustees began to relax the original rules on the prohibition of slavery, rum and excessive land ownership. He was defeated from Parliament in 1754 and eventually retired to the life of an English gentleman. He and Elizabeth never had children.

Oglethorpe died in 1785 at 88 and is buried at Cranham Hall, Elizabeth's family estate. Elizabeth passed away two years later and is buried in the same tomb.

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