The most active members of the Georgia Trust, in terms of their attendance at council, corporation, or committee meetings, are, in order of frequency, James Vernon, the earl of Egmont, Henry L'Apostre, Samuel Smith, Thomas Tower, John LaRoche, Robert Hucks, Stephen Hales, James Oglethorpe, and Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury.
The number of meetings attended over the twenty-year span of Trustee Georgia will range from Vernon's seven hundred and twelve to Shaftesbury's two hundred and sixty-six.
Sixty-one Trustees will attend fewer meetings.
James Vernon, one of the original Associates of Dr. Bray and an architect of the charter, will maintain an interest in Georgia throughout the life of the Trust.
He had arranged the Salzburger settlement and has negotiated with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for missionaries.
He differs from Egmont and Oglethorpe in his willingness to respond to the colonists' complaints.
When Oglethorpe becomes preoccupied with the Spanish war after 1740, Vernon will propose the plan of dividing the colony into two provinces, Savannah and Frederica, each with a president and magistrates.
The Trustees had named William Stephens president in Savannah, and he will serve until 1751, when he is replaced by Henry Parker in the final year of the Trust's tenure.
Oglethorpe neglects to name a president for Frederica, and the magistrates there are instructed to report to Stephens.
The Trustees do not want to appoint a single governor because the king in council has to approve the appointment of governors, and the Trustees prefer to keep control in their hands.
After Egmont's retirement in 1742, Vernon will become the indispensable man.
He will miss only four of one hundred and fourteen meetings during the last nine years of the Trust and supervise the removal of restrictions on land tenure, rum, and slavery.
Egmont, the first president of the Common Council and the dominant figure among the Trustees until his retirement, acts as Georgia's champion in Parliament.
He strongly opposes Walpole's attempts to conciliate Spain at the expense of Georgia.
He has to walk a careful line, however, because the Trustees depend upon Walpole for their annual subsidies.
Other Trustees contribute According to their abilities.
Henry L'Apostre advises on finances, Samuel Smith on religion, and Thomas Tower on legal matters, particularly on instructions to Georgia officials.
Stephen Hales's closeness to the royal family and his standing as a scientist lends prestige to the body of Trustees.
Shaftesbury, a political opponent of Walpole, had joined the Common Council in 1733 and, except for a brief resignation, will remain faithful to the end, leading the negotiations to convert Georgia to a royal colony.
For the entire twenty years, the Trustees will employed only two staff members, Benjamin Martyn as secretary and Harman Verelst as accountant.
Oglethorpe returns in 1637 to England to demand a regiment of regulars from a reluctant Walpole.
Not only does he get his regiment and a commission as colonel, but Egmont persuades Walpole to pay for all military expenses.
