Background
Other sources suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the Earl of Inchiquin.
Other sources suggest that he was an illegitimate son of the Earl of Inchiquin.
Carter probably belonged to an extended family of Dublin musicians including, among others, Timothy Carter (c1715–1772) and (Charles) Thomas Carter (c1735–1804), with whose works his were often confused as both published music in London in the 1790s and used to abbreviate their name as "T. Carter". He was born in Dublin and seems to have shown an exceptional musical talent since his childhood. Sponsored by the Earl of Inchiquin, he went to study music in Naples, around 1788, where he became a protegé of Sir William Hamilton.
He then went to Calcutta, India, to become the theatre"s music director, but had to relocate to England in July 1789 for health reasons.
When he died in London at age 31, the "Gentleman"s Magazine" described him as "a victim, in early life, to the fatal ravages of the liver complaint". In The New Grove Dictionary of and ians (1980 edition), Roger Fiske made the first attempt to distinguish between the works of Thomas Carter and his near-namesake (Charles) Thomas Carter.