Category:Carter, Thomas/CollectionsBy

• Detailed biography: Wikisource

"Most of the accounts of his life which have appeared are full of extraordinary blunders, principally caused by there having been another Thomas Carter, also a musician, who was his contemporary. This individual died of liver complaint on 8 Nov. 1800, aged 32. The ‘Dictionary of Musicians’ (1827) and ‘Georgian Era’ (iv. 526) have transferred the younger Carter's age, liver, widow, and children, to the elder musician, thus creating a remarkable confusion. Another error is the statement that in Italy Carter attracted the attention of Sir William and Lady Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton went as envoy to Naples in 1764, but was not made a K.B. until 1772, and was unmarried until long after Carter had left Italy. To add to this confusion, a third Thomas Carter, also a musician, was living in Dublin at the beginning of the century. This individual can be traced to 1809, but there can be no doubt that the author of ‘O Nanny’ died in London at the date given above." (DNB)