JAMES OGLETHORPE, THE FOUNDER OF GEORGIA AS A HOME FOR ENGLISH DEBTORS, AS A PLACE FOR PERSECUTED PROTESTANTS, AND AS A BARRIER AGAINST THE SPANIARDS
Oglethorpe a soldier
58. A Friend of the Unfortunate. James Oglethorpe was an Englishman. At an early age he went to Oxford to study, but he was drawn away from college by the clash of arms. Oglethorpe was a soldier for many years. Later he became a member of Parliament.
English jails and jailers
A friend of Oglethorpe's died in a debtor's prison, which aroused his sympathies for the poor. He examined English jails, and found them so dirty and dark and damp that strong-bodied men, to say nothing of women and children, soon sickened and died in them. Besides, he found that the jailers were often bad men, who whipped the prisoners on their bare backs and stole their food.
JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE
From an original portrait painted by Simon Francois Ravenet, from a mezzotint by Burford in the print room at the British Museum
The prison was a poor place for a man in debt, anyway. How could a man pay his debts while he was shut up in prison?
King George II grants a charter