Background
He was son of Peter Weston Carter and great-grandson of Robert Carter, who was then appointed justice of the peace at Ferryland in 1750.
He was son of Peter Weston Carter and great-grandson of Robert Carter, who was then appointed justice of the peace at Ferryland in 1750.
In 1855, he was elected to the House of Assembly as a Conservative and was Speaker from 1861 until 1865. In 1865 he succeeded Sir Hugh Hoyles as Premier. Carter was a supporter of Canadian confederation having been a delegate to the 1864 Quebec conference.
However, the Conservatives were defeated on the Confederation issue in the November 1869 election by the Anti-Confederation Party led by Charles Fox Bennett.
Even though Newfoundland did not join the confederation until 1949, Carter is considered one of the Fathers of Confederation. Carter became Premier a second time in 1874 but had dropped the issue of joining Canada.
In 1878 Carter was appointed Chief Justice succeeding Sir Hugh Hoyles.