Annie Bindon Carter was born in Nottingham, England in 1883 and educated at Ladies’ Moravian School in Oakbrook, Derby.
[1] Annie, together with three other ex-art school students, her sister Dorothy Bindon Carter, Phyllis Lawton and Edith Jagger, all volunteered at Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield during 1915/16.
The four women went on to found Painted Fabrics in 1917, with the aim of 'establishing a charitable organisation which would actively rehabilitate severely injured ex-servicemen through occupational therapy'.
[2] The result was Painted Fabrics, a ground breaking charitable organisation designed to enable severely disabled soldiers and sailors, which included double amputees and those suffering from shell shock to work and to have a roof over their and their families' heads.
Annie, was the wife of the successful Sheffield industrialist, Geoffrey Carter, who was himself, a serving officer abroad.
[2] From the outset, Annie, being the dominant personality of the group was instrumental in making sure Painted Fabrics became a limited company in 1923.
Despite national press coverage, exhibitions and displays across the country, sales fluctuated and the company faced continual financial hardship.