Carte was born in 1686 near
Clifton upon Dunsmore (itself near
Rugby), the eldest son of the antiquarian
Samuel Carte. He matriculated at
University College, Oxford in 1698, and took his degree from
Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1702, and an
MA from
King's College, Cambridge, in 1706. Carte first became known for the controversy that opposed him to Henry Chandler, father of
Samuel Chandler, regarding the role played by
King Charles I in the
Irish Rebellion of 1641. This controversy started with a sermon Carte preached at the
Abbey Church in
Bath in 1714, where he was a reader. In this sermon Carte defended King Charles I against the accusation that he was in league with
Phelim O'Neill who pretended to act on a (probably false) royal commission issued. His attachment to the
Stuarts also caused him to remain a non-
juror. He was
ordained around 1714, and in that year refused to take the
Oath of Allegiance. On the discovery of the plot of
Francis Atterbury, whose secretary he was, he was accused of
high treason in 1722 and was forced to flee to
France adopting the name of Philips. There he collected materials for illustrating a London edition of the
Historium sui temporis of
Jacques Auguste de Thou planned by Samuel Buckley. These materials were purchased and published by
Richard Mead. Carte was pardoned and recalled to England in 1728 through the influence of
Queen Caroline. Carte held the rectory in
Yattendon,
Berkshire, during the later part of his life.
Richard Mead made it possible for Carte and Samuel Buckley to publish the London edition of
de Thou's Latin History in 1733. He started work on the
Life of James Duke of Ormond. He obtained an important collection of letters from
Charles Butler, 1st Earl of Arran. He published the letters in 1735 as volume 3 so that references could be made to them with correct page numbers. He then published volumes 1 and 2 in 1736. He then started work on a "General History of England" as an improvement on
Paul de Rapin's ''Histoire d'Angleterre''. Carte published volume 1 in 1747, volume 2 in 1750 and volume 3 in 1752. Volume 4 was published in 1755 after his death. He lost the trust of many of his patrons by including an anecdote about a miraculous healing of
King's Evil by royal touch, given by the
"Old Pretender" in the first volume. He died on 2 April 1754. He was buried in the church at
Yattendon. == Works ==