Born in Deal, Kent, on 16 December 1717, Elizabeth Carter was the eldest child of Rev. Nicolas Carter, perpetual curate of Deal, and his first wife, Margaret (died c. 1728), who was the only daughter and heir of John Swayne of Bere Regis, Dorset. She died when Elizabeth was ten.18th C – People & Places Retrieved 13 July 2016. Her redbrick family home still stands at the junction of South Street and Middle Street, close to the seafront.
