He made large collections of bird specimens while living and working in remote regions of Western Australia.
Born in the town of Masham in Yorkshire, England, to Amelia Mary Carter, née Rhodes on the 6 April 1863.
[1] Tom Carter's arrival in Western Australia reopened ornithological study of the region's birds, following a period of few collections and little research.
While working in his first job as a Jackaroo, Carter used his spare time to make observations and collect bird skins and eggs in the Gascoyne district.
[3] Carter made a significant contribution to the ornithological literature on Australian birds, his notes and papers from Western Australia appearing in The Zoologist and The Emu.