Career
Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, John Carnac voyaged to India as a lieutenant in the 39th Regiment in 1754 and served at Madras as secretary and aide-de-camp to the colonel of the regiment, John Adlercron. He joined the service of the East India Company as Captain in 1758 after transferring from the 39th foot. After his arrival in Bengal he became secretary and aide-de-camp to Robert Clive, governor of Bengal, and joined him in an expedition against the Prince Ali Gauhar, son of the Mughal emperor Alamgir World War II In 1761 he engaged with and defeated Shah Alam World War II He became Brigadier-General in 1764 and participated with Clive in the negotiations with Shuja-ud-Daula and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II in 1765.
In 1767, Carnac resigned from the company"s service in January and returned to England.
He purchased an estate near Ringwood in Hampshire and also participated in a largely unsuccessful housing development in Southampton. From 1768 to 1773 he served as Member of Parliament for Leominster.
In 1772 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was dismissed from the East India Company for his involvement in the Convention of Wadgaon in 1779 and died at Mangalore in November 1800.
In 1765 John Carnac married Elizabeth Woollaston.
A 1775-1776 portrait of Mistress Carnac by Sir Joshua Reynolds hangs in the Wallace Collection in London. A 1778 mezzotint engraving by John Raphael Smith after Reynolds" painting is at the Art Museum of Estonia, with a proof impression at the British Museum.
