Georgia Historical Society

Brief Biography

James Edward Oglethorpe (1696-1785)

James Edward Oglethorpe was born in 1696 in London, England into a family with active political ties to the British royal family and an interest in British politics. He would go on to accomplish great things in a life he dedicated to the service of others by serving in Parliament, defending the British colonies against numerous threats, and founding the last British colony in America.

Oglethorpe was the youngest of ten children, and the family spent time in their homes in both London and in a small rural town outside of London. When he was two years old his father was elected to the House of Commons, an arm of the British Parliament, and held a seat that Oglethorpe and his two brothers would hold later in their lives.

Oglethorpe enrolled at Corpus Christi College at Oxford University when he was 17 years old, but left before graduating to attend a military college in France. The Turkish Empire was advancing on Europe, and Oglethorpe went to help successfully defend the continent while serving as an aide to the Prince Eugene of Savoy. He eventually returned to Corpus Christi College though he never graduated. 

When Oglethorpe was 33, his friend Robert Castell was jailed because of his debts. While there Castell caught smallpox and died, which caused Oglethorpe to begin to look into prison conditions in England. At this time Oglethorpe was a member of Parliament, and because of his interest he was named the chairman of a parliamentary committee to investigate the English prison system. During their investigation Oglethorpe and the other committee members discovered that prisoners were often jailed like Robert Castell because they couldn’t pay their debts, and once in jail were subjected to terrible conditions. Of course, it didn’t make any sense to put the debtors in jail where they no way to earn money to repay the debts they owed.

Oglethorpe saw the injustice of the situation, and was further horrified by the abuses and dismal conditions prisoners endured in the prisons. He began speaking out against them, gaining national attention, and people started to recognize him as a humanitarian for trying to change a system that so mistreated people. Because of the attention on debtor’s prison and poor people in England, Oglethorpe and several others from the parliamentary committee to investigate prisons looked even deeper into the plight of poor people in England. They were inspired to create a new colony in America to give the poor a chance to succeed as farmers, merchants and artisans.

The committee members asked King George II of England to grant a charter to create a new colony called Georgia, and once that was accomplished many of them were appointed as Trustees, including Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe and the colonists chosen to settle Georgia sailed for America in late 1732, and arrived at the site where they built Savannah two months later. Oglethorpe embarked on this trip knowing he could not own land, hold office, or receive a salary because of his status as a Trustee, but he still went ahead and worked hard in the new world.

During the next ten years Oglethorpe worked to make the new colony a success and protect the colonists from a hostile invasion.  He spent his own money when the resources sent by the Trustees in England and Parliament ran out, and hoping all the while the colony would succeed so he could be repaid by the British government. He developed a deep interest in the military because of the need to protect Georgia, and was appointed to be a general in the British army because of his success. Everything he did was for others, not for himself, the motto of the Georgia Trustees: Non sibi sed aliis.

While in Georgia, Oglethorpe established communities, built forts, and guided the colonists, but eventually his time there came to an end. In 1744 he returned to London where he met Elizabeth Wright. They married in September of that year, when he was 47 years old, and they settled in Essex, a town outside of London. He never returned to Savannah, but continued to serve as a Trustee for several years. During this time the other Trustees relaxed early restrictions on land ownership, slavery, and other issues that Oglethorpe opposed. He eventually discontinued his involvement in the colony in 1750, 18 years after he first embarked on his journey to America.

After ending his involvement with the Georgia colony, Oglethorpe continued to serve in Parliament, and went on to become a senior general in the British army. There was a rumor that General Oglethorpe was offered a command at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, which he turned down. Nothing is known how Oglethorpe felt about the American Revolution, but it is known he met with the Ambassador to Great Britain John Adams (later to become the second president of the United States) and expressed his admiration for the United States.

In 1785, Oglethorpe died and was buried at the church beside Cranham Hall, his home in Essex where he lived with Elizabeth.  Oglethorpe had no children. His legacy in Georgia is remembered not only with the communities he founded and protected, but also with roads, towns, and other tributes named for him.

Vocabulary Words
Parliament - The British Parliament is the governing body of the United Kingdom and is composed of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
House of Commons – One half of Parliament, members of the House of Commons are elected by the people, while the members of the House of Lords are appointed.
Smallpox – A disease common to Europe during the 1700s, victims developed a rash and often were left blind or with scars, if they survived.
Humanitarian – Someone who promotes human welfare, believing that all people deserve to be treated equally with respect and kindness.
Plight – A difficult or unfortunate situation that someone finds themselves in.
Artisan – A craftsman, someone who creates goods or materials using traditional methods.
Trustee – A member of a Board of Trustees that governed Georgia during the first 20 years of its existence. Trustees were not allowed to own land, hold office or receive a salary for their work.
Motto – A short phrase used as a guiding principle or to represent a group, institution or person.
Debt – Something owed, usually money.

Teaching Tips
1) Have students study a map of Europe and North America, looking at all the places Oglethorpe traveled, from his birthplace in England, his service fighting the Turks in Europe, to settling Georgia. Point out that there weren’t any cars, planes or trains at this time and Oglethorpe was traveling on ships and horses, which are very slow compared to what we’re used to now.
2) Teach students about Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Compare this system of government to that of the United States.

Sources
The New Georgia Encyclopedia, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
The Man Who Founded Georgia by J. Gordon Vaeth
 

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Project funding provided in part by the City of Savannah