The Carling family and its descendants later resided in Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Brockville, London, Toronto and Windsor in Canada, as well as Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Arriving to Upper Canada in 1818, the family moved to London in 1839, where Thomas founded the Carling Brewery in 1843 using a recipe from his native Yorkshire.

From 1878 to 1891, he served in the House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), holding the position of 7th Postmaster General from 1882 to 1885, and Minister of Agriculture from 1885 to 1891.

However, the election was disputed and declared void, thus Carling resigned from the Senate in order to run in a by-election in 1892, which he won.

Meanwhile, Carling remained active in London affairs, using his position in the federal government to influence politics and business.

The plane was named the Sir John Carling, but both it and its pilots, Terence Tully and James Medcalf, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean.