 His father was a Master, Fellow and Bursar at Eton College.His father's brother was Thomas Thellusson Carter (1808–1901), who became a significant figure in the Victorian Church of England.His own brothers included William Marlborough Carter (1850–1941), who became Bishop of Zululand and then Bishop of Pretoria, before becoming Archbishop of Cape Town from 1909 to 1930, and Frank Willington Carter (1865–1945), who became a businessman in Calcutta and philanthropist, co-founding the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association.