born Dec. 22, 1696, London, Eng.
died June 30/July 1, 1785, Cranham Hall, Essex, Eng.
English army officer.
After serving in the British army from 1712 to 1722, he entered Parliament, where he became interested in prison reform. In 1732 he secured a charter for a colony in what became Georgia, where debtors could start a new life and persecuted Protestants could practice freely. He accompanied the first settlers to found Savannah (1733) and led the defense of the territory against attacks by Spain (1739, 1742). He returned to England in 1743.