The Minor Family of Somerset

Name Prefix:<NPFX> Lady
Lady Eleanor Wall Oglethorpe (James' mother) was bornin 1661 i
n Ireland, but at age 17 became a maid to Madam Carwell in the c
ourt of Charles II of England. In 1680, Eleanor -- or Ellen, a
s she was known -- became Head laundress to the king. In her ne
w post, she was given lodging at the rear of the palace -- oppos
ite the quarters of a young major in the Dragoons, Theophilus Og
lethorpe. Before year's end, the two were married. Theirunion p
roduced a series of ten sons and daughters beginning with Lewi
s in 1682 and ending with James Edward in 1696. After the deat
h of Charles II and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Theophilu
s and Ellen went to France to be with the deposed James II. By 1
696, however, they reconciled with England's newmonarchs -- Wil
liam and Mary
His father, Sir Theophilus, died on April 10,1702. Ellen was le
ft to raise the seven Oglethorpe children (though some of the da
ughters continued to live as Jacobites in Framce. In Ellen's fin
al years, all of her children were dead or in France except fo
r James Edward, who alone was left to care for his mother. Her d
eath on June 19, 1732 allowed himto personally lead the expedit
ion and settlement of Georgia later that year.