John Carter II
Son of John Carter of Birmingham, ironmonger, apprenticed to Robert Cooke 4 May 1732. Turned over to John Allen Glover, 31 March 1735, of whom the freedom is unrecorded. His first mark appears around 1766/7.
Although his first mark in the register is 21 September 1776 (address: Bartholomew Close), there is evidence that he was supplying candlesticks to the firm of Parker and Wakelin as early as 1769 (Wakelin, "Workmen's Ledger", Garrard MSS, Victoria and Albert Museum). Second mark, 30 October 1776, this entry annotated "Lef Trade Jan 20 1777". The first mark of Richard Carter and Robert Makepiece was entered the same day at the same address.
Heal records him as goldsmith, London 1768-9, and at Westmoreland Buildings 1770, and he appears in the Parliamentary Report List at Bartholomew Close in 1773, as a manufacturer of large plate. There is almost certainly a relationship between him and Richard and Thomas Carter (q.v.) - both of whom, at some time, were in the Westmoreland Buildings.
From the survival of his mark, Carter appears to have specialised almost exclusively on candlesticks and salvers. His mark is found on candlesticks of his own manufacture, and he seems to have also retailed candlesticks made in Sheffield, which he overstruck with his mark and those of the London assay office.
