Author: Carter, Elizabeth
Biography:
CARTER, Elizabeth (1717-1806: ODNB)
Her major collections of verse were issued before 1770 but she is included in this database because the posthumous collection edited by her nephew, Montagu Pennington, printed some poems that had not previously been published. Carter was born on 16 Dec. 1717 in Deal, Kent, the eldest child of the Rev. Nicolas Carter, perpetual curate of Deal chapel and one of the preachers at Canterbury cathedral, and his first wife Margaret Swayne (d c. 1727). Her parents married at Bere Regis, Dorset, on 6 Aug. 1716. All of the Carter children were well educated and Elizabeth excelled particularly at languages, both classical and modern. Carter also learned more traditional female accomplishments and she practiced needlework all her life. Her first published poem was printed as by “Eliza” in GM in 1734; the owner and editor of GM, Edward Cave, was a friend of Nicolas Carter. Encouraged by her father, she lived in London for the winters of 1735-39 and met other writers including Samuel Johnson (q.v.) who remained her good friend until his death. Cave published her first collection of poems as a pamphlet in 1738 and other works including translations followed. The first of her books to appear under her name was also one of her most significant publications: All the Works of Epictetus Which are Now Extant was issued by subscription in 1758. It was a major critical and financial success that not only made her name but also ensured her ongoing independence. She took lodgings in Clarges Street, London, and leased adjoining houses in Deal where she could live side by side with her father. She met Elizabeth Montagu (1718-1800) and William Pulteney, Lord Bath—from whose estate she later benefitted—and travelled with them to Germany. They convinced her to publish Poems on Several Occasions in 1762; this was the last collection of her verse to appear in her lifetime. With Montagu and other women writers, Carter was known as a “bluestocking,” one of a group of educated literary women. In 1797 Carter suffered from a debilitating and painful illness, probably erysipelas, from which she never fully recovered before her death at home in Clarges Street, on 19 Feb. 1806. She was buried in the cemetery at Grosvenor chapel, London. (ODNB 9 Jan. 2024; ancestry.co.uk 9 Jan. 2024)
Other Names:
- Mrs. Carter
- Mrs. Elizabeth Carter