Eleanor Oglethorpe
| Eleanor Oglethorpe | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eleanor Wall 1622 Tipperary |
| Died | 1732 (aged 69–70) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Spouse(s) | Theophilus Oglethorpe |
Eleanor Oglethorpe (1662–1732) 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. Eleanor and her husband Theophilus Oglethorpe returned to their estate outside London, but remained secretly and actively in the service of the House of Stuart. After Theophilus and William III died in 1702 she became an advisor to Queen Anne, even as she continued working for the Jacobite cause. Eleanor Oglethorpe was the mother of James Edward Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, social reformer, politician, and soldier who founded Georgia.
Eleanor Wall, or Du-Vall, was born in Tipperary, Ireland, where she was raised Catholic. She traced her family ancestry to Richard Seigneur de Val Dery, an associate of William the Conqueror; and she claimed kinship to nobility, including the House of Argyll, a prominent Scottish clan loyal to the House of Stuart. Her father, Richard Wall, loyally defended Charles I against Oliver Cromwell, beginning a family affiliation with the House of Stuart.
Eleanor Wall was employed in the household of Charles II at a young age. In 1681, while holding the position of head laundress she met and soon married a young army officer, Theophilus Oglethorpe, who was quartered on the Thames River next to the royal palace. Through both loyalty and ability the couple rose in stature during the reign of Charles II, and both were present at his death in 1685.
Charles II was succeeded by his brother, James II, who rewarded the Oglethorpes’ continued loyalty by making Eleanor Lady Oglethorpe and knighting Theophilus. James II was Catholic as well as a believer in the theory of divine right of kings advanced by his grandfather, James I. In order to restore a Protestant monarchy and balanced government, Parliament engineered a coup d’état, soon known as the Glorious Revolution, that brought William and Mary to power.
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