A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Carter, John
CARTER. (Captain, 1815. f-p., 22; h-p., 27.)
John Carter is second son of the late Thos. Carter, Esq., of Castle Martin, co. Kildare, by Catherine, daughter of the Hon. John Butler, and niece of the first Earl of Lanesborough; great-grandson of the Right Hon. Thos. Carter, of Robertstown and Rathnelly, co. Meath, Secretary of State for Ireland, and Master of the Rolls; grand-nephew of the Right Rev. Philip Twysden, D.D., Lord Bishop of Raphoe, in Ireland; second-cousin of the present Earl of Jersey; and brother of Wm. Henry Carter, Esq., now of Castle Martin, Deputy-Lieutenant for the co. of Kildare, as likewise of Capt. Thos. Carter, late of the Royal Artillery.
This officer entered the Navy, 14 Jan. 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Brilliant 28, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, and, on 26 July following, participated, off Santa Cruz, Tenerife, in that ship’s able escape from the two 44-gun frigates Vertu and Régénérée, On next removing, with Capt. Blackwood, to the Penelope 36, he assisted, while at the blockade of Malta, at the hard-wrought capture, 31 March, 1800, of Le Guillaume Tell, of 84 guns and 1000 men, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Decrès; subsequently to which we find him attending the expedition to Egypt, and sharing in much arduous boat-service on the coast of France and off Genoa. During the peace of Amiens Mr. Carter successively joined the Sophie 18, Capt. Geo. Burdett, and Apollo 36, Capt. John Wm. Taylor Dixon. He became attached, at the renewal of hostilities, to the Euryalus 36, Capt. Hon. H. Blackwood, blockading Boulogne; passed his examination 1 Feb. 1804; and, on 20 Feb. 1805, was promoted, from the Victory 100, flag-ship of Lord Nelson in the Mediterranean, to an Acting-Lieutenancy in the Leviathan 74, Capt. Henry Wm. Bayntun, to which he was confirmed 4 Sept. following. Under the latter officer, after pursuing the combined fleet to the West Indies and back, he bore a part in the battle of Trafalgar, and, at the close of that deadly struggle, was employed, at much personal risk, in securing the prisoners and destroying the prizes. As Lieutenant, Mr. Carter’s succeeding appointments appear to have been – 28 Feb. 1806, to the Cerberus 32, Capt. Wm. Selby, in the West Indies – 3 June following, to the acting-command of the Cerf (formerly Cyane) 18, which he brought across the Atlantic with sails under her bottom and pumps going the whole passage – 1 April, 1807, to the London 98, Capt. Thos. Western, part of the force which, in the course of the same year, attended the Royal Family of Portugal in its flight to the Brazils – and, 6 Aug. 1808, to the Agamemnon 64, Capt. Jonas Rose, on the latter station. He was there advanced, 22 Aug. 1809, to the command of the Hyacinth 18; and was afterwards appointed – 3 Aug. 1811, to the Orestes 16, in the Channel – and, 23 March, 1812, to the Thracian 18. In the latter sloop he visited the Baltic and West Indies; captured, 7 Feb. 1814, the French privateer L’Emile, of 14 guns and 42 men, off St. Valery; and, on two occasions, in order to preserve the crew from destruction, was compelled to throw a part of his armament overboard. Capt. Carter – who, since his attainment of Post-rank, 7 Dec. 1815, has not been afloat – was nominated, 2 Dec. 1841, Superintendent of the Royal Hospital at Haslar, and of the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard; an appointment he retained until Dec. 1846.
He married, in 1833, Julia, eldest daughter of W. P. Georges, Esq., and has issue five sons and one daughter. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.