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.