Life

Carter was the son of Benjamin Carter, a marble-carver established in Piccadilly

Piccadilly

Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...

, and was born on 22 June 1748. At an early age he was sent to a boarding-school at Battersea

Battersea

Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...

, and then to one in Kennington Lane. Leaving school aged about twelve, he went home to his father, making working drawings for the men. About 1764, his father having died, Carter was taken into the office of a Joseph Dixon, surveyor and mason, with whom he remained for some years. In 1774 he was employed to execute drawings for the Builders Magazine, edited by Francis Newbery of St. Paul's Churchyard, and for this he continued to draw until 1786. In one of its numbers he published a design for a sessions house, copied by someone who sent it in as his own original design, for a competition for the building of a sessions house on Clerkenwell Green.

In 1780, on the recommendation of Michael Lort

Michael Lort

-Life:The descendant of a Pembrokeshire family living at Prickeston, he was eldest son of Roger Lort, major of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who married Anne, only child of Edward Jenkins, vicar of Fareham, Hampshire...

, Carter was employed by the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

 to do some drawing and etching. He was elected a fellow of the society in March 1795, and then worked as its draughtsman. In 1780 he had drawn for Richard Gough

Richard Gough (antiquarian)

Richard Gough was an English antiquarian.He was born in London, where his father was a wealthy M.P. and director of the British East India Company. In 1751 he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he began his work on British topography, published in 1768...

, later a patron, the west front of Croyland Abbey

Croyland Abbey

Crowland Abbey is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire.-History:...

 Church and other subjects, in Gough's Sepulchral Monuments and other works. From 1781 Carter also met other patrons and friends, among whom were John Soane

John Soane

Sir John Soane, RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources...

, John Milner

John Milner (bishop)

John Milner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and writer who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1803 to 1826.-Early life:...

, Sir Henry Charles Englefield

Henry Charles Englefield

Sir Henry Charles Englefield, 7th Baronet was an English antiquary and scientist.-Life:He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Englefield, sixth baronet, by his second wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir Charles Bucke, Bart...

, William Bray, Sir Richard Colt Hoare

Richard Colt Hoare

Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county, Wiltshire.-Career:Hoare was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of...

, the Earl of Exeter, and Horace Walpole.

Carter practised little as an architect. Towards the autumn of 1816 his health began to decline. In the spring of the following year dropsy made its appearance, and he died in Upper Eaton Street, Pimlico

Pimlico

Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....

, on 8 September 1817, aged 69. He was buried at Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, an inscribed stone to his memory being placed on the south side of the church. His collection, including drawings and antiquities, was sold by auction at Sotheby's

Sotheby's

Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...

 on 26 February 1818.

Works

His first important published work was his Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting, published in parts from 1780 till 1794. In his introduction to the 'Specimens' Carter states that, 'having explored at different times various parts of England for the purpose of taking sketches and drawing of the remains of ancient sculpture and painting, his aim is to perpetuate such as he has been so fortunate as to meet with by engraving them.' While the 'Specimens' was in progress, Carter also published 'Views of Ancient Buildings in Englsnd' (drawn and engraved by himself), 6 vols. London, 1786-93. In 1785 he began another extensive work, 'The Ancient Architecture of England' (1795-1814). Part i. deals with 'The Orders of architecture during the British, Roman, saxon, and and Norman eras;' its engraved title-page is dated London, 1795, and its dedication (to H.R.H. the Duke of York) 1806. Part ii., 'The Orders of Architecture during the reigns of Henry III, Edward III, Richard II, Henry VI, Henry VII and Henry VIII,' was not completed. Its title-page is dated 1807, but the engravings bear dates from 1807 to 1814. A new and enlarged edition of this work was published in 1845 (two parts, folio) by John Britton. The arrangement of the architectural specimens chronologically was an important feature in Carter's book and prepared the way for subsequent writers on the sequence of styles.

Between 1795 and 1813 Carter was further engaged in preparing plans, elevations, sections, and specimens of the architecture of ecclesiastical buildings, which were published at intervals by the Society of Antiquaries

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

Another work of Carter's was the series of papers published in the Gentleman's Magazine from 1798 to 1817, as 'Pursuits of Architectural Innovation.' These papers partly consist of a series of attacks on contemporaries engaged in the restoration of buildings and monuments. They were signed 'An Architect,' but Carter's authorship could not be concealed.