OGLETHORPE, JAMES EDWARD
\ˈɒɡə͡lθˌɔːp], \ˈɒɡəlθˌɔːp], \ˈɒ_ɡ_əl_θ_ˌɔː_p]\
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(1698-1785), the founder of Georgia, was an officer in the British army and a member of Parliament, whose sympathies had become directed toward the misfortunes of debtors. In 1732 he received from the king a grant of land for the purpose of founding a colony for this class, and in 1733 founded Savannah. The settlement prospered fairly. Oglethorpe, who had twice returned to England, commanded an unsuccessful expedition against St. Augustine in 1741 in the war with Spain. The next year he repelled a Spanish attack on the colony, and returned finally to England in 1743. Subsequently, for the conduct of a force against the Young Pretender he received severe criticism. In 1752 he resigned the charter of Georgia to the crown.
By John Franklin Jameson
