The Minor Family of Somerset

Oglethorpe Arabian
The GSB says this "may be the horse described as Mr. Oglethorpe'
s son of the [D'Arcy] Yellow Turk." He sired Makeless, "...a hor
se ofgreat eminence especially as a stallion," and a "high form
ed galloway," BaldFrampton, who won the Whip. He may also hav
e sired the dam of another racehorse, White Stockings (by Counse
llor)--"from a mare by Oglethorpe's son of theYellow Turk." Th
e Oglethorpe arabian, "...his blood as esteemed as excellenta
s any not entirely foreign," was owned by Sir Thomas Oglethorp
e of Scotland. That statement, in a description of the pedigre
e of his great-grandson, Bay Bolton, tends to support the GSB, i
n that it implies the horse was not imported. The Oglethorpe fam
ily seat was at Bramham, Yorkshire -- Bramham Moor was the sit
e of very early horse races -- and was forfeited during the Civi
lWar by Sutton Oglethorpe, due to his support of the Royalist c
ause--later, he was rewarded by Charles II with the post of Mast
er of the Royal Stud, succeeding James D'Arcy (the elder) in tha
t position, who died in 1673. The horseis significant because h
is son, Makeless, got a number of important early matrons.