CARTER, Herbert James (1858-1940)

entomologist

son of James Carter, was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, on 23 April 1858, and educated at Aldenham school and at Jesus College, Cambridge. Coming to Australia in 1881 he was a mathematical master at Sydney Grammar School until 1891, when he became principal of Ascham girls' school until 1914. Becoming interested in the study of the Coleoptera, he joined the Linnean Society of New South Wales, was a member of its council from 1920 to 1939, and its president in 1925-6. He was joint editor of The Australian Encyclopaedia which was published in 1925-6. He was able to obtain the help of the leading scientists of Australia and their articles formed a large and valuable part of this publication. In his own work Carter gave much attention to matters of synonymy, and published a number of check-lists of the families. He died suddenly at Sydney on 16 April 1940. About fifty of his papers are listed in Musgrave's Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775-1930, but Carter continued working almost up to the day of his death. He married Antoinette Charlotte Moore and was survived by two sons and two daughters. A man of charming personality, Carter was much esteemed by his scientific colleagues. Many of them are mentioned in his Gulliver in the Bush, published in 1933, a record of his collecting trips in Australia. He was honorary entomologist to the Australian Museum, Sydney, for some years. He disposed of one collection of Coleoptera to the national museum, Melbourne, and a later collection was given to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Canberra. One of Carter's sons Lieut.-Colonel Herbert Gordon Carter, born in 1885, fought in the 1914-18 war, was three times mentioned in dispatches, and was awarded the D.S.O. He was for a time chief electrical engineer in the New South Wales department of works.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. LXVI, p. 11; A. Musgrave, Bibliography of Australian Entomology; Who's Who in Australia, 1941.