Oglethorpe, James Edward (1696–1785)

English soldier and colonizer of Georgia, USA. He served in parliament for 32 years and in 1732 obtained a charter for the colony of Georgia, intended as a refuge for debtors and European Protestants.

The colony was also intended by the British to act as a buffer against Spanish Florida. The colonists were selected carefully, and every aspect of life was planned and supervised.

Oglethorpe served as Georgia's first colonial governor 1733–34. In 1743, frustrated by settlers' complaints, he returned to England.