Anne Henrietta Oglethorpe (1683–1756), whose name at baptism was entered in the register as An Harath Oglethorp, was an English Jacobite agent who worked to restore James II to the throne after he was deposed by the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

. Following the death of James II in 1701, she continued her efforts on behalf of

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

, the Old Pretender, for the remainder of her life.

Family history

Anne Oglethorpe's mother, Eleanor Oglethorpe, was an employee of the royal household during the reigns of Charles II and James II; she followed James II to France, where he was exiled after the Glorious Revolution. Anne's father, Theophilus Oglethorpe, also offered his service to James, but as a Protestant he was eventually sidelined. Eleanor and Theophilus returned to Westbrook, their estate outside London, where they remained secretly and actively in the service of the Jacobite cause. Anne was the only daughter to remain with her parents in England; her three sisters lived in France after the revolution and married into French nobility. Anne assisted her mother in raising

James Edward Oglethorpe Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social reform ...

at Westbrook. He later became a reformer in Parliament, the founder of the

Georgia Colony The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of Ge ...

, and a prominent figure among London intellectuals in the Age of Johnson. Anne moved to Europe when James was grown. She was made Countess of Oglethorpe in the

Jacobite peerage The Jacobite peerage includes those peerages created by James II and VII, and the subsequent Jacobite pretenders, after James's deposition from the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. These creati ...

by James III.

Jacobite activities

Anne Oglethorpe became involved with Robert Harley, minister to Queen Anne, when he met with her after she was detained for questioning about a trip to France. She used the relationship with Harley to promote communication with James III about succeeding Queen Anne to the throne. At Westbrook, Anne was involved with her mother in coordinating Jacobite plots to overthrow

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

, who succeeded Queen Anne. Evidence suggests that they ran a smuggling operation from their estate to raise funds for the cause. A secret tunnel from the town of

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

to the house at Westbrook allowed for clandestine meetings. James III's son

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

(the Young Pretender), may have stayed there during a clandestine trip to England. As a result of their Jacobite intrigues, myths developed around the Oglethorpes. In one instance, Anne or her younger sister Fanny were variously called Queen Oglethorpe or Her Oglethorpean Majesty, in the belief that she was mistress to James III.Lang, “Queen Oglethorpe,” 214-37.

References

Bibliography

*Ettinger, Amos Aschbach, ''James Edward Oglethorpe: Imperial Idealist''. Archon Books, 1968. Reprinted with permission of Oxford University Press. *Hill, Patricia Kneas, ''The Oglethorpe Ladies''. Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1977. *Lang, Andrew
“Queen Oglethorpe”
(with Alice Shield). ''Historical Mysteries''. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1904. * Monod, Paul Kleber, ''Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. *Monod, Paul Kleber, “Dangerous Merchandise: Smuggling, Jacobitism, and Commercial Culture in Southeast England, 1690-1760.” ''The Journal of British Studies''. 30 (2): 150-182. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oglethorpe, Anne 1683 births 1756 deaths 18th-century English women 18th-century English people Earls in the Jacobite peerage English Jacobites