Having been President of the Vice Admiralty Court in Mauritius, he was convicted in France of bigamy and, returning to England, wrote about music and other topics.
His father went to the East when his son was about four years old[1] and became acting superintendent of Prince of Wales Island - today Penang, Malaysia.
[2] In 1810 the British captured the Indian Ocean island of Isle de France, which became the Crown Colony of Mauritius.
The following year Caunter, who had acquired a mastery of French while living in France as a teenager, was appointed superintendent of the press as well as sworn translator and interpreter to the government in Mauritius.
[3][4] He became assistant in the Treasury office in June 1812 and was granted leave in that year to travel to Prince of Wales Island to administer the estate of his father, who had died at the end of 1811.
[5][6] He returned to Mauritius and in 1813 married a French politician's daughter, Mauritius-born Aurélie Bestel "who, according to a miniature of her playing the harp, was very beautiful".
[13] In 1819 Caunter travelled to England with his brother-in-law, Nicolas Gustave Bestel, later acting Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Mauritius.
[18] The Gazette des tribunaux concluded its detailed coverage of the trial with the observation that "The accused, whose features are regular and whose physiognomy is remarkable, maintained the most profound calm throughout the proceedings and even on hearing the verdict.
[21][22][23] In the years that followed, Caunter participated in the cultural life of London and was active as a reviewer, editor, composer, music performer, translator and writer.
[33] George Henry's obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine noted that he "was a most indefatigable and able writer, although his name was rarely prefixed to his productions.
[41] He also published compositions of his own, such as Grand trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle, opéra 10 (c. 1820)[42] and Twelve Fantasias on Favourite Airs by Mozart and Paisiello, for the Piano-forte and Violoncello (1831).
[44] Reviewing his composition Think of Thee No More, the Gloucester Journal in 1842 wrote that Caunter had been "long known to the dilettanti and professionals, not of Gloucester only, but of London and the Continent, as a sound, though perhaps occasionally a rather severe, musical critic; and the present composition establishes that he is not amenable to the charge which is sometimes brought against our critics, that they are not always themselves practically acquainted with the subjects on which they venture to pronounce a judgment".
His father-in-law, Antoine Bestel (1766-1852), had been secretary of the Assemblée Coloniale in Mauritius (then the Isle de France) during the French Revolution.