was b. at
Dinton, Bucks.
, a village rich in associations with the
Parliamentary
cause. He was the eldest son of a
Thomas
Carter
; a younger son,
William
, became a wealthy
London
merchant
. Tradition avers that
John
started life as a
linen-draper
— hence the contemporary pun which described his marriage as the acquisition of ‘
the best piece of holland in the county
.’ But in
1645
he was successively
captain
and
colonel of horse
at
Brereton
's siege of
Chester
, and was one of the commissioners at its surrender in
Feb. 1645/6
. In close association with
George
Twiselton
(q.v.)
, he took an active part in the siege of
Denbigh
, and in the administration of the town after its capitulation in
Oct. 1646
. In Nov.
Carter
was made
governor
of
Conway castle
, and subsequently
commander in North Wales
. The
Second Civil War
(
1648
) saw him again co-operating with
Twiselton
in the defeat and capture of
Sir
John
Owen
(
1600
-
1666
) (q.v.)
near
Llandygái
. In
1650
he was
sheriff of Caernarvonshire
and a
commissioner
under the
Act for Propagation of the Gospel in Wales
; in
1651
(confirmed by
Cromwell
in his
governorship of Conway
), and again in
1656
,
lord-lieutenant of Caernarvonshire
. He was
Member of Parliament
for
Denbighshire
in
1654
,
1656
, and
1658-9
; and
Cromwell
knighted
him
c
. March 1657/8
. But towards the end of the
Protectorate
,
Carter
was evidently ‘trimming’; he was expelled from the
Rump Parliament
. After the
Restoration
he was
knighted
afresh (
June 1660
) by the
king
, was, for a short time,
Member of Parliament
for
Denbigh
, was
steward
of the manor of
Denbigh
(
July 1660
),
governor
of
Holyhead
(
Nov. 1660
), and
sheriff
of
Denbighshire
in
1665
. He d.
28 Nov. 1676
(being then ‘57’ — a very dubious statement), and was buried in the (now ruined) chancel of the
old church of S. George
(in
Welsh
,
Cegidiog
or
Llansantsiôr
). His character and trustworthiness have been variously estimated.
The
Carter
dynasty at
Kinmel
was but short-lived.
Sir
John
's son,
THOMAS
CARTER
(d.
24 July 1702
), was in chronic financial difficulties, and was in
1695
a prisoner in the
Fleet
. His two eldest sons,
John
and
Thomas
, had predeceased him in
1686
, and it was his surviving son,
WILLIAM
CARTER
, who inherited the heavily encumbered estate. In
1729
William
procured an
Act of Parliament
, allowing him to sell out to
Sir
George
Wynne
of
Leeswood, Flints.
;
William
then went to live at
Redbourn
, in
Lincs.
The
Kinmel estate
continued to be an embarrassment even to its new owners, and in
June 1781
a decree of Chancery sanctioned its sale to a
David
Roberts
, of
London
, who,
however (with his associates), sold it again, in
1786
, to the
Rev.
Edward
Hughes
— see the article
Hughes
,
Hugh Robert
, which brings the story of
Kinmel
down to
1911
. It may be added here that
Hugh S. B.
Hughes
d. in
1918
, and his brother and heir in
1940
. The house (which had been rebuilt) was occupied by the
War Department
during the
1914-19
war, and was sold in
1934
; but the greater part of the lands passed to the heir who, in
1953
, deposited the family papers in the library of
University College
,
Bangor
.
