[1][2] Born in 1695 or 1696 to the former Judith Armistead, probably at Corotoman, the home plantation of his wealthy father, Robert Carter, he became a prominent member (and ancestor) of the First Families of Virginia.
Of these, Judith and Sarah died as infants, but Elizabeth (1692-1734) would marry twice, to burgesses Nathaniel Burwell of Gloucester County in 1709 (and received Carter's Grove plantation in Williamsburg from her father as their wedding present).
His sister Judith (1695-1750) in 1718 married Mann Page, but their Rosewell plantation was still incomplete when he died, so this man (her brother) helped pay for and directed its completion.
[6] However, John Carter was not raised with his sisters and half-siblings, but instead was sent to England at age 12 for his education, first at a school run by Michael Mattaire at Ratliff hear Mile End, which his father had attended.
He entered Trinity College of Cambridge University in January 1714 as a Fellow Commoner (the highest social rank), but never graduated.
[8] Among the small group of sons of Virginia planters in London, Carter lived well, and his spending aggravated his father, who reportedly wrote "To have spent so much money upon a dunce or a blockhead ... [would have been] most intolerable.
[11] Carter represented his family's business interests in London during his time in England, and acted as his father's agent with Perry, Lane and Company.
The following year, John Carter patented 9,350 acres in Albemarle County from the foot of Monticello Mountain south to the Hardware River (about 10 miles), and secured that land by building a mill and a road (later called the "Secretary's Road" across the "Secretary's Ford" of the Rivanna River, to the town of Bremo on the James River), as well as a claim house he named Clear Mount on the eastern side of what would be called "Carter's Mountain", and which his son Edward Carter would rebuild and name "Blenheim" in honor of the Duke of Marlborough's defeat of the Prussian army in Blenheim, Belgium in 1704.
Also, upon his father's death 1732 as discussed below, through primogeniture this John Carter inherited considerable property, including Corotoman plantation and hundreds of enslaved workers, as well as a mercantile business in Lancaster County that also traded West African slaves obtained from Liverpool merchants Samuel Powell and Foster Cunliffe.
Despite Drysdale's death, the Board of Trade's inquiry in 1727 prompted Carter to defend the perquisites of his office, as well as his own conduct.
Although he was not removed from either office, Carter failed to secure another lucrative post he sought that year, as deputy auditor of the royal revenue in the Virginia Colony.
[27] Beginning the 1723, Secretary John Carter erected an elegant plantation house at Shirley, which was completed in 1738 and remains today.
[28] As was also common among the colony's ruling families of the era, Carter also raced thoroughbred horses and attended cockfights, presumably gambling on most of such events.
[30] Carter died on July 31, 1742, although Governor William Gooch did not specify the precise location of his death when informing the Board of Trade of the now-vacant position.