James Oglethorpe

James Edward Oglethorpe
Governor of Georgia
In office
1732–1743
Prime MinisterSir Robert Walpole
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byWilliam Stephens
Member of Parliament
for Haslemere
In office
1722–1754
Preceded byNicholas Carew
Succeeded byJames More Molyneux
Personal details
Born(1696-12-22)22 December 1696
Godalming, Surrey, England
Died30 June 1785(1785-06-30) (aged 88)
Cranham, Essex, England
Political partyTory
SpouseElizabeth (née Wright)
Alma materEton College, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, a military academy, Paris, France
ProfessionMilitary officer, politician, colonial administrator
Signature

Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696[1] – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social reformer, he hoped to resettle Britain's "worthy poor" in the New World, initially focusing on those in debtors' prisons.

Born to a prominent British family, Oglethorpe left college in England and a British Army commission to travel to France, where he attended a military academy before fighting under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Austro-Turkish War. He returned to England in 1718 and was elected to the British House of Commons in 1722. His early years were relatively undistinguished until 1729, when he was made chair of the Gaols Committee that investigated British debtors' prisons. After the report was published, to widespread attention, Oglethorpe and others began publicising the idea of a new British colony to serve as a buffer between the Carolinas and Spanish Florida. After being granted a charter, he sailed to Georgia in 1732.

Oglethorpe was a major figure in Georgia's early history, holding much civil and military power and instituting a ban on slavery and alcohol. During the War of Jenkins' Ear, he led British troops in Georgia against Spanish forces based in Florida. In 1740, he led a lengthy siege of St. Augustine, which was unsuccessful. He then defeated a Spanish invasion of Georgia in 1742. Oglethorpe left Georgia after another unsuccessful invasion of St. Augustine and never returned. He led government troops in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was blamed for his role in the Clifton Moor Skirmish. Despite being cleared in a court martial, Oglethorpe never held a military command again. He lost reelection to the House of Commons in 1754 and left England, possible serving undercover in the Prussian Army during the Seven Years' War. In his later years, Oglethorpe was prominent in literary circles, becoming close to James Boswell and Samuel Johnson.

  1. ^ Dates follow the Julian calendar up to 2 September 1752 and the Gregorian calendar thereafter. Britain and her American colonies changed on that date and the following day was 14 September. The intervening eleven days were omitted.