Lawrence Carter ( – 1 June 1710) of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, was an English lawyer and politician. He was born in June 1641, the eldest son of Lawrence Carter and Eleanor Pollard. The Carters were prosperous gentleman farmers in

Paulerspury Paulerspury is a civil parish and small village in West Northamptonshire, England. It is approximately south of Towcester and north of Milton Keynes along the A5 road (which follows the course of the Roman Road of Watling Street). The paris ...

, Northamptonshire, but young Lawrence was destined for a legal career. He was educated at

Clement's Inn The Inns of Chancery or ''Hospida Cancellarie'' were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from a ...

and

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to Thomas Wadland, an attorney in Leicester, whose daughter Elizabeth he married. The couple had two sons before Elizbeth's death in 1671. In 1675 he remarried, to Mary Potter of London, with whom he had two sons and four daughters. Carter became man of business to the earls of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

and Stamford, and when a new charter was issued to Leicester (following a writ of

quo warranto In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...

) Carter became the town's

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. He was one of the first to

kiss hands To kiss hands is a constitutional term used in the United Kingdom to refer to the formal installation of the prime minister or other Crown-appointed government ministers to their office. Overview In the past, the term referred to the requirem ...

with James II, securing

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

from the new monarch for the rights to provide his home town with a piped water from the Soar, which he did at a cost of £4000 (). Elected unopposed to represent the borough of

in 1689, he served for six years. In 1701 he returned to represent the same seat, succeeding his eldest son who was also called Lawrence Carter. He died on 1 June 1710, aged 69, and was buried at the church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester.

References

1641 births 1710 deaths English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1701–1702 Politicians from Leicester 17th-century English politicians 18th-century English politicians {{18thC-England-MP-stub