By the 1830s Knottingley brewery was such a commercial success that profits were accruing faster than they could usefully be absorbed by reinvestment in company development. Some idea of the scale of capital gained may be obtained by reference to John Carter's assessments of his personal wealth made during the following decade. In November 1843, Carter calculated that he had made a clear profit from the brewery of £6,695-8-4. (1) Between 1843-45 Carter saved £2,284-9-7. with the company showing clear capital of £8,979-18-11. in the latter year. (2) In November the following year the sum was £9,099-5-10.(3) The trend is reflected by details of cash deposited in Carter's account with the Pontefract branch of the Yorkshire Banking Co. In December 1845, £2,472-11-4. was deposited with a further £1,177-3-10. the following year and the sum of £1,707-5-9. in 1847. (4)

Not all Carter's wealth was derived solely from the brewery. An early use for employing surplus funds at a profit was by lending out money at a fixed annual rate of interest, usually between 4%-5%. Thus, Carter's income was considerably supplemented by a wide variety of loans. The loans were not merely confined to business associates for his social status conferred upon Carter a creditworthiness which engendered public confidence and transcended the sphere of business activity. Consequently, Carter was constantly assailed by requests for loans of variable size secured by note of hand, bond, or property deeds. The scale of Carter's activities emphasises the affinity which had existed between the brewing and banking fraternities since the mid eighteenth century.

Carter's private accounts reveal loans granted singularly or severally to private individuals, business associates, friends and even family. The accumulation of debts occurred incidentally rather than as the result of preconceived action but the process made John Carter the most prominent creditor in the district outside the ranks of the formally constituted professional institutions. The distinction was one which passed from father to son although by the time of George William Carter's inheritance the demand had been somewhat abated by the further development of banking and allied services following the Bank Act of 1844 and subsequent legislation during the following decades.

So numerous and diverse is the record of monies lent by Carter that a cross section must suffice to illustrate the extent and nature of such loans, viz:-

3-11-1851. Dr. Samuel Smithson Esq., Ackworth, by mortgage of his estate, £4,500 @ 4%p.a. interest.
16-4-1857. Messrs E.B.Beaumont & R.T.Lee Esq'rs., by joint bond, £2,000 @ 6% p.a. interest.
5-12-1857. Ths. Routledge Esq., Pontefract, by bond and deposit of debentures, £1,000 @ 5% p.a. interest.
24-12-1858. W. Shirtcliffe, draper, Pontefract, by mortgage on house & premises, £1,000 @ 4% p.a. interest.
19-12-1859. Ths. Carter Esq., Solicitor, Howden, by bond, £400 @ 5% p.a. interest.
12-9-1861. Geo. Taylor, butcher, Hill Top, Knottingley, by note of hand, £30.
17-8-1872. Geo. Wm. Carter [son] cash lent on note of hand, £200 @ 5% p.a. interest. (5)

The total amount of money loaned annually seems, however, to have remained relatively stable. When stocktaking in July 1866, John Carter calculated that the sums owed to him in loans totalled £1,150. (6) The figure compares with that of £1,071 in 1845 (7) and £1,720 the following year. (8)

The bustling commercial enterprise of the age provided considerable scope for capital investment in other areas with banks, industry, railways, and shipping to the forefront. In addition, the twin areas of investment; property and land, offered a more traditional safeguard to less venturesome investors. In this latter respect Carter was already a participant for in addition to having purchased the Anchor Inn, Knottingley, as a personal speculative venture before he inherited the brewery, he is also on record as a small landowner by the 1840s. (9)

On occasion the acquisition of land and property was less deliberate, arising through default of loan repayment, sometimes followed by the bankruptcy of the debtor. As previously noted, many loans were made to publicans and owners of licensed premises and quite frequently resulted in the procurement of leaseholds or the granting of concession concerning the supply of liquor and even in the acquisition of the premises of the borrower, with direct benefit to the company's affairs. In other instances, the value was less apparent. An example of such a case concerns Carter's dealings with William Pease, a saddler of Ferrybridge, who in September, 1842 found himself unable to meet the financial demands of his creditors. In order to appease the creditors, Pease sold his entire possessions to Carter and Joseph Atkinson, his principal creditors, for the token sum of ten shillings. Pease's property consisted of four dwelling houses, a tan yard, bark mill, drying sheds, garden, orchard and other land. (10) The property was of minimal use to Carter except to bolster his wealth through being sold.

Likewise, the many cottages which were acquired of necessity as the adjuncts to public house sales whilst generating small amounts of income through rents (a number being occupied by brewery employees) were of limited use and not generally sought after by Carter.

It would be wrong, however, to conclude that Carter did not actively invest in land. The records provide numerous instances of land speculation both within and around the town of Knottingley and even much further afield. Part of the huge Waithwaite Field comprising a huge portion of the former Town Field to the south-west of Knottingley had been purchased by Mark Carter in 1831 (11) and other portions of this land were bought by John Carter together with parcels on Knottingley Common and other parts of the medieval Town's Field in the present-day areas of Broomhill and England Lane. (12) Acreages within the nearby district included those at Ferrybridge, (13) Pontefract, (14) Ackworth, (15) Kellington, (16) Beal, (17) Moss, (18) Campsall, (19) Askern, (20) Hensall, (21) Cridling Stubbs and Darrington, (22) Norton, (23) Fenwick, (24) and Featherstone. (25) A few such parcels of land were bought as the sites of recently established public houses, others for their potential development in this respect, a fact which explains the purchase of land in the surrounding district rather than exclusively within Knottingley. Indeed, Carter's landholdings within the township were very modest compared with those of his wealthy contemporaries eight of whom had holdings of between 40 and 100 acres during the middle decade of the nineteenth century. (26) The largest portion of land at that time was 103 acres forming the holding of Carter's late partner, Edward Gaggs, compared to which Carter owned less than 20 acres, including the brewery land. (27)

Throughout the period 1860-73, John Carter increased his purchase of arable and meadowland at Knottingley and these together with fifty recorded small parcels of land containing property which were bought during that period and subsequently added to by purchases made by his son and successor, George William Carter, made the latter one of the principal landowners within the town by the closing decade of the century.(28)

That John Carter's motive was principally one of speculative investment is evident from his purchase of land and property belonging to the estate of the late Dr. William Bywater when it was auctioned at the Cherry Tree Inn, Knottingley on the 20th October 1863. The six lots included eight cottages, blacksmiths shop, stable, yard and outbuildings situated behind the yard of the Wagon & Horse (sic) Inn, Knottingley. The property was stated to have a,

"....considerable frontage to the River Aire and is well adapted for the erection of chemical works and a tillage manufactory." (my italics)

A second lot situated at Hill Top on the site of the town's former debtors' prison and known as Jail Houses, comprised six cottages (formerly seven), shoemakers’ shop, yard with piggeries, outbuildings and other conveniences, fronting the Wakefield Turnpike road and,

"....from its proximity to the railway station presents to any capitalist an opportunity for making a desirable investment." (my italics). (29)

In March 1866, Carter paid £900 for 20 acres of land on Knottingley Common from Mr Briggs of Potter Grange, Goole. (30) Three years later, in February,1869, Carter paid £1,031 to Samuel Shepherd of Ferrybridge for 2 acres, 2 roods of land in two closes, known as Stoop Closes, lying in the Ferrybridge Field. The land had previously been rented by Carter, as indicated by the payment of £18-15-0 for outstanding rent when the purchase was made. (31)

Again, in 1873, Carter paid £100 to the trustee in bankruptcy of Henry Morell for an unspecified amount of land which was then re-let at a rent of £60 a year, again suggesting the purchase of land purely for the purpose of financial return on investment by this date. It is not impossible, however, that some of the land, may have been purchased to provide barley and oats and grazing for the brewery horses, a practice followed by one of the company's nearby rivals. (32)

George Carter in his turn continued with the trend set by his father. In 1882 he bought 20 cottages standing opposite the brewery from the Yorkshire Banking Co. The cottages had formerly belonged to William Moorhouse and were named Moorhouse Row (known colloquially for generations as 'Long Row' and more pointedly, 'Gaping Row' because the roadside location of the dwellings afforded a clear view of their interiors to passers-by). The purchase also included other Moorhouse properties within the town. (33)

The same year, George Carter also purchased grassland at Knottingley at an auction of the estate of Robert Bywater, paying a deposit of £185-3-5. at the sale in August, followed by the balance of £1,668-3-7. in November. (34)

The entries in the Carter accounts indicate a reduction in the rent paid by Carter's tenants during the decade from the mid-1870s. Occasional references are made concerning land revaluation which suggests that the onset of the economic downturn commonly referred to as the 'Great Depression' may well have affected land values in the locality which in turn caused a knock on effect resulting in lower rents. (35) It seems somewhat surprising, therefore, that Carter continued to acquire land and property at this period, particularly when reassessment of local property valuation had increased the rateable value on much of his existing property. One can only conclude that Carter could afford to take advantage of reduced land and property prices and did so in the confident belief that an eventual recovery in the market value would yield financial dividends.

It is perhaps an indication of the amount of property acquired by the Carters during the previous decade that by the mid-1870s George Carter could justify the expense of £50 per year to employ a man, part-time, to collect his cottage rents. (36)

Toward the end of his life John Carter had also bought land more distant, at Keighley and Morley, in 1868. (37) The former site was added to by George Carter who in 1887-88 purchased properties adjacent to Lawkholme Lane. (38) George Carter was also responsible for the purchase of property at Bradford. In 1874, he bought land at Bowling (39) and also at Manningham and other city areas in 1884 (40) and also at Calverley two years later. (41) Again, no motive other than financial speculation seems to explain these purchases.

One of George Carter's largest purchases concerned in excess of 56 acres of land at West Haddlesey which was bought at auction when Carter also purchased the Bridge Tavern there in October 1877. (42) The additional land consisted of seven closes and a foldstead situated adjacent to the Selby canal at a point between Town Street and Long Lane. Another close, Sand Field, slightly in excess of four acres, lying opposite, was also obtained at the same sale. (43) The inn was leased to the company while the remaining property was rented by a local farmer. Almost as extensive was the purchase of a farmstead with three adjacent cottages and 47 acres of land at Norton near Campsall, which was bought of John Rowley in March 1887. (44) Here again it would seem that Carter's motive in making the land purchase was a purely speculative venture.

For over twenty years from the late 1830s John Carter invested money in vessels associated with Knottingley's thriving maritime trade, usually spreading the financial risk attendant upon such ownership by part rather than outright ownership.

The vessels with which Carter was associated were round sloops, known colloquially as 'billyboys' and designed for work in the coastal shipping trade. (45) Unfortunately, no record exists concerning the type of cargo carried by these ships but it is not improbable that they were employed in carrying barley, malt and hops from the ports of East Anglia and Kent which supplied the more populous urban areas north and west of the Humber. To that extent they may have brought materials along the Aire to the nearby brewery prior to the opening of the Aire & Calder canal for it is known that both maltsters and brewers had from the mid sixteenth century looked to Lincolnshire and East Anglia for supplies of barley carried along the Humber and its tributaries. (46) Whatever the purpose to which Carter's vessels were put the poor condition of the roads in the early nineteenth century or the tolls levied on more serviceable ones, ensured (despite the dangers of wind and storm) the profitability of local shipping, hence Carter's investment.

Carter may have been prompted to invest in this manner by his partner, Edward Gaggs who is recorded as a vessel owner in 1826 when the 46-ton round sloop, George & Ann, built at Knottingley by Richard West in 1811, was sold to Gaggs on the 26th of April, 1826. (47) Gaggs was also a major shareholder, in partnership with Joseph Austwick, in the round sloop Victoria which was built at Knottingley in 1833 by Thomas Cliff. (48) Following Gagg's death in 1840, his executors sold his 42 shares to Austwick, the master of the ship. (49)

John Carter's first venture into the maritime trade occurred in 1839 when, with Thomas Carter of Tanshelf, Pontefract, and Thomas Cliff of Knottingley, he commissioned the 46-ton sloop Christina which was built by Cliff in his Knottingley yard. The trio continued in partnership until 1854 when, following Cliff's death, the vessel was sold to Matthew Woodhall of Knottingley. (50) Simultaneously Carter owned the Mary & Elizabeth, a 40-ton sloop built in 1829 and purchased in February 1839. Carter sold the ship in September, 1851, to Michael Dey, owner of the Jolly Sailor inn, Knottingley. (51)

Carter's personal accounts reveal the receipt of sums of money at sundry times during 1841, totalling £725 in respect of an eighth share in the vessel Chance. (52) By May 1848, Carter's share in the ship had increased. At that date the subscribing owners were William Carter of Howden, John Carter, of Potter Grange, Goole, Thomas Carter of Tanshelf and John Carter of Knottingley, each of whom held a quarter share, William Carter had purchased the portion belonging to William Ward of Hessel for the sum of £1,239, the price including the half yearly profit obtained from the use of the ship. (53) In November 1848, however, William sold his share to his three co-partners who continued in joint possession until the ship was sold in February 1857. (54)

John Carter's decision to upgrade his investment was a wise one for the annual dividends rose quite sharply during the 1850s before falling back to their original level by 1858, viz:-

The falling trend may have prompted the decision to sell the vessel. The sale took place in February 1857, although it was not transferred to Hull until 1861. (56)

In October 1840, the Fairy, a 61-ton sloop, was built for John and Thomas Carter by John Cliff at Knottingley. (57) The ship was refitted in 1854 at which time John Carter sold his half share to Caroline Bayes, licensee of the Duke of York inn, Knottingley and the other half share was sold to William Whitaker, master mariner, who resided at the inn and succeeded Bayes as publican in April 1879. (58)

The Three Sisters was another vessel with which John Carter was associated. The 41-ton sloop was built at Leeds by Benjamin Wilson for George Lund of Knottingley in July, 1826. Lund sold a half share to John Carter in February 1839, and Carter retained his interest until August 1851, when he resold his share to Lund. The ship was last recorded at Hull in 1876. (59)

A vessel in the temporary possession of the Gaggs Carter partnership was the Bilander, a 39-ton sloop built by Thomas Cliff at Knottingley in May 1848 for John Stanhope, a stonemason of that town. On 24th May 1850, Stanhope transferred the vessel to John Carter, Grace Gaggs, John Carter of Howden and Thomas Carter of Tanshelf, co-partners in the brewery firm, as security for a loan of £150. The agreement invested the firm with power to sell the ship should the loan, plus interest, not be paid on or before the 24th November, 1851. Some alternative arrangement must have been made, however, for the vessel was not reconveyed to Stanhope by the company until January 1853. (60)

By mid-century the railways had proved to be an efficient, economical mode of transport and had begun to displace some of the canal trade which had itself slowly drawn the waterborne traffic from the river Aire during the two preceding decades. (61) The diminishing returns on capital outlay meant that by 1860 Carter had abandoned his investment in the shipping trade. A statement drawn up by Carter, dated 1st March, 1845, reveals the extent of his shipping interests at that date, viz:-

Carter had bracketed the names and the values of the four lower vessels and had written,

"share reduced in these vessels since 1843, 150 in balance."

thus revealing the running down of his interest in the maritime sphere more than a decade before the link was fully severed. (62)

A similar stocktaking of November,1846, lists the same vessels and values. (63) However, an entry of 25th July 1854, records the sale of the sloop Fairy against a joint note of hand for £200 @ 5% annual interest, the debt being paid in instalments until cleared on 25th April 1856. (64)

As the decline in the profitability of the shipping trade was accompanied by a rise in the value of railway shares it is unsurprising that Carter's accounts reveal an increasing investment in this form of transport. As early as March 1845, Carter held railway script to the value of £667-16-0. (65) and during the following decade purchased further shares in the Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield & Goole line. In 1858, five £100 shares were bought in the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co., at a cost of £454-15-0., with further shares in that company's Blackburn extension being purchased the following year. (66) By the mid-1860s the portfolio had enlarged to cover the following stock: -

The capital investment in the railways was paralleled by the brewery company's investment in their use for the despatch of its wares. Beer travelled badly when waterborne and therefore whatever the extent to which the nearby waterways were utilised for the transport of raw materials, their use for the carriage of finished goods was minimal. The advent of the rail link enabled the brewery to operate a quick and efficient service over a wider area of distribution at relatively cheap rates. In 1877 the company supplied ale to Doncaster racecourse for the St. Ledger meeting at a cost of 2s 6d. (68) Similarly, the carriage of spirits to Askern cost 1s 4d. The existence of regular accounts with average monthly sums of £5 each to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Co. and the Great Northern Railway Co. for the carriage of beer and spirits suggests fairly extensive use of the train for deliveries. (69)

John Carter's younger brother, Thomas Mark Carter (1809-73) was also a brewer. From running a brewery at Dodworth Road, Barnsley, Thomas Mark had, by 1843, established a brewery at Woolgreaves in Sandal Magna, Wakefield. (70) In April, 1845, however, Thomas Mark combined with his elder brother to purchase 1,643 square yards of land adjoining the Cattle Market, within the town of Wakefield, as the site for a new brewery, known as the Victoria Brewery. (71) An indenture of December that year gives the dimension of the site as 1,160 square yards in extent but mentions buildings thereon, suggesting partial construction of the brewery by that date. (72)

Despite the brief economic downturn of the 1840s the new business prospered for by May 1847, further land was obtained for the extension of the brewery. (73) At this date the address of Thomas Mark Carter is given as Woolgreaves, Sandal Magna, but sometime shortly thereafter a house next to the Victoria Brewery was bought as a residence for Carter and his family. A reference in October 1851, to the purchase of a dwelling house on the east side of White Horse Yard, Wakefield, with a small plot of land,

"adjoining the dwelling house and premises of....Mark Carter."

reveals that the family were established in their George Street home by that date. (74)

Oddly, no reference is contained within the material which forms the existing Carter archive, a fact which stands in complete contrast to the information concerning John Carter's other business interests at this time.

By 1861 a brewery trading under the title of T.M. Carter had been established at Horninglow Street, Burton on Trent. The brewery employed 30 people and produced 10,000 barrels per year at that time (75) but although it is known that John Carter visited Burton in April 1864, on business concerning brewing in general, there is no evidence of a direct connection with the brewery there. (76) Indeed, it is known that Thomas Mark Carter had been joined by his sons in the Victoria Brewery and that by 1868 apart from the brewery in Burton on Trent they also owned a colliery at Allerton Bywater, Castleford.

Between 1868-1900 the Burton brewery was in continuous production under Thomas Mark Carter until his death in 1873 and thereafter under Samuel Carter. In 1888, the firm, (also known as the Victoria Brewery like its Wakefield counterpart) traded as Carter & Scattergood and the workforce had grown to 70 employees, producing 30,000 barrels per year. (77) It therefore appears that the partnership between the Carter brothers was of relatively brief duration and had ended before 1860. It is unfortunate that the only records of the Wakefield brewery which have survived concern the period following its amalgamation with the Melbourne Brewery, Leeds, in 1888, to form the Leeds & Wakefield Breweries Co. Ltd. (78) The details concerning the dissolution of the fraternal partnership have therefore eluded present day researchers.

John Carter was also a partner with his brother, Thomas Mark and Joseph Smith in a brewery situated in Eldon Street, Sheffield. An inventory dated 5th February, 1838, which surprisingly describes all three co-partners as being "of Sheffield", reveals that they took out a mortgage on land belonging to William Parkin Esq., of Conisborough. The site, at the junction of Dawson and Eldon Street and bounded on the south by a plot demised for a chapel called Zion Chapel, had a recently erected brewhouse, maltkiln, stable, warehouse and counting house upon it, together with two dwelling houses, one of which was the residence of Joseph Smith, who was obviously there to supervise the brewery. (79) Initially, the firm traded under the style and title of Carter & Smith, North Street Brewery, but by the following decade had gained a new partner, John Watson, and traded as Carters, Smith & Watson. (80) By 1846, however, Watson had withdrawn from the business to become involved shortly afterwards in the establishment of the Mansfield Brewery. and the firm had recommenced trading under its old style. (81)

Despite a mortgage of £1,700 which was still outstanding in 1860, (82) the company thrived and in January 1851, and again the following year, the premises were extended by the purchase of adjacent plots of land. (83) In March 1845, John Carter estimated the value of his third share at £3,000 and in November 1846, at £2,588., allowing for the deduction of the amount of the mortgage. (84) In 1851, the firm began to acquire tied houses, purchasing the Brown Cow, Bridgehouses, and a beerhouse at Coulston Croft, Bridge Street, Sheffield, in June 1857, although the company's ownership of such premises appears to have been minimal before the 1870s. (85)

Carter's initial share had cost him £1,300 and by October 1845, the plant was valued at £10,046-8-0., the brewery buildings being worth £2,247-6-5. and the utensils £2,145-16-9. (86) Financial details concerning the company reveal a steady profit throughout the 1840s viz;-

The dividend Carter received in 1837 was £300, rising to £400 the following year. In 1845 the partners shared £2,000. Two dividends were declared that year,

"owing to our paying Watson's share."

Yet despite the outstanding mortgage and the pay out to Watson of £1,830, Carter received a dividend of £300. The amount increased by £50 the following year and in 1848 leapt to £700. (88)

The following decade saw a continuation of general profitability but of a more variable nature and never again reaching the peak attained in 1848. Indeed, the years 1854-55 saw a sudden dramatic fall followed by an equally notable recovery in 1856 before resuming the variable pattern of the earlier years. viz:-

During the above decade, in keeping with the pattern of profitability, some variation occurred in dividend payments with sums ranging from £450 in 1850 to £150 the following year. The annual average throughout the decade was slightly less than £300 per year, with that sum being paid on six occasions. (90) However, whilst the profits, with the exception of 1853-54, were satisfactory they did not match those of the previous decade. Recognition of this fact may have influenced John Carter (and his brother) to withdraw from the Eldon Street Brewery, just as the awareness of the gradual decline in the shipping trade had apparently influenced his attitude to that sphere of investment about the same time. Conversely, the 1860s is the decade when the Carter brothers appear to have dissolved their partnership in the Wakefield brewery concern and this fact may also be of significance with regard to the Sheffield shareholding. Owing to the absence of relevant documentation, the reason for Carter's withdrawal is denied to us. Whatever his motive, the Sheffield partnership was dissolved with Carter recording on the 7th April, 1860,

" I have this day received of John Smith the sum of three thousand five hundred pounds for my one third share of all property, stock and interest in the Eldon Street Brewery, Sheffield, the partnership being dissolved this day." (91)

The 18th November 1850, witnessed the commencement of a business relationship between Carter and John Hope, an earthenware manufacturer of Burslem, Staffordshire, when the latter borrowed £500 from Carter. (92) How the two became acquainted is not known but the decade from 1850 was one of expansion for the nearby Ferrybridge potteries and a trade connection with the town of Burslem had been established as early as 1798 when Ralph Wedgwood had moved to Knottingley under the aegis of John Seaton, a partner in the local pottery and subsequently a social and business contact of the brewery partners. (93) It seems probable, therefore, that this link was instrumental in effecting the introduction of Hope and Carter.

Hope's original debt was repaid within a few years but on the 2nd June 1864, a second loan of £500 was secured by note of hand. (94) Between times, however, events had unfolded which presented Carter with an opportunity for personal investment and also give an indication of the reason for Hope's loan requirement.

On the 14th January, 1862, Carter advanced a draft for £2,000 to secure a partnership in a business to be established at Fountain Place, Burslem, trading thereafter as Hope & Carter. The following year a further advance of £560 was made to the firm by Carter. The injection of cash, together with Hope's loan, suggests a financial struggle by Hope to maintain the business as a viable concern. Certainly, there appears to have been an ongoing financial crisis for on the same day that Hope's second loan was secured, Carter also provided the sum of £1,742-0-9. which together with compounded interest brought his initial investment to £8,000. The transaction was accompanied by a formal agreement giving Carter a two thirds share of the business profits in addition to 5% annual interest. (95) The business seems to have traded successfully thereafter for the partners shared a proportionate dividend of £500 on the 5th November, 1866. (96)

The final direct entry within the Carter archive concerning John Hope refers to payment of interest on his outstanding loan and is dated 10th August, 1870. (97) Carter's involvement in the firm after that date is unrecorded. It seems probable that the partnership continued until Carter's death three years later for Hope was one of the mourners at Carter's funeral (98) There are also indications that Carter's passing brought an end to the firm's financial stability for although the business continued to operate under their joint names until 1880 it was taken over by G.L.Ashworth & Bros. at that date. The firm was subsequently named Masons and now forms part of the Wedgwood group. (99)

A lingering element of the partnership is retained in the accounts of George Carter. In 1881-82, Carter purchased from the trustees in liquidation of John Hope Esq., three life insurance policies with a total realisation value of £4,500, plus bonuses, each taken out by John Hope. (100) Carter obviously viewed the purchase as a long term investment, particularly as almost a decade earlier (1872-73) he had comprehensively covered his own life by similar policies to the total value of £8,000 and had also insured himself against accident and total or partial disablement by an additional policy. (101)

John Carter was also associated with a number of minor sources of investment. One such was the Knottingley Gas Company. The manufacture of coal gas for commercial use had been introduced into the town by Thomas Bell, a local chemist, in 1844 and within a few years the majority of business premises within the township were gas lit. (102)

With his usual business acumen, John Carter anticipated the long-term investment potential of this technological advance and purchased £150 of stock in the local company in 1855. (103) the initial investment was increased three years later when Carter bought further shares in the names of his son and daughter, George William and Maria Jane Carter. (104) By the time of his death in 1873, John Carter was the Chairman of the Knottingley Gas Light Co. (105) The shares were then inherited by George William Carter and he in turn enlarged the holding by purchasing 16 shares from Edward Ingle in February 1876 and a further 12 shares, valued at £16-10-0. each in May 1877, bringing the total held by him to 132 at that date. (106) In 1885 and again in 1903, the holding was enlarged by further purchases. (107)

In view of the Carters' fervour for investment in the local gas company it is of passing interest to note that Knottingley brewery and the Carter residence, Lime Grove, were lit by gas produced by the brewery's own producer plant and were not linked to the public supply until late in 1877. (108) It may well be that the use of gas produced on site was instrumental in shaping John Carter's awareness to the financial advantages to be gained from its commercial application, hence his investment in the local company.

Despite the social legislation enacted in the wake of the Reform Act of 1832, most workers, including skilled craftsmen, still lived at a level of bare subsistence, their misery compounded by frequent unemployment and the shadow of the workhouse or a pauper's grave. Buttressed only by the occasional benefit of a rise in wages or fall in prices dictated by the vagaries of the trade cycle the lowly people were generally dependent upon charity and the poor law and recourse to drink to alleviate hardship.

From the late eighteenth century, a less feckless element amongst the labouring class, usually composed of craftsmen and small traders, had combined to form mutual aid groups known as friendly societies. By means of regular, albeit meagre subscriptions, these fellowships sought to allay the destitution attendant upon illness and death. Initially, such institutions though widespread were confined to a particular locality in terms of membership and were developed under the benevolent patronage of men of higher social status and Christian outlook. Such men, with their education and allied business skills inevitably strengthened the institutions with which they were associated, placing them on a sounder actuarial basis and conferring upon them social respectability.

Quite apart from the exercise of Christian virtue it must be noted that the middle-class patrons had ulterior motives for they comprised the oligarchy which formed the Select Vestry membership and being the dominant socio-economic group in local society were the ones whose rates principally subsidised the system of poor relief. It was therefore a matter of self-interest to foster ideals of self-help, mutuality, financial prudence and social responsibility in order to reduce the burden of the ratepayers. If the financial return obtained from such forms of capital investment were limited they were no less real and immeasurably beneficial in terms of social value.

Several friendly societies were in existence at Knottingley during the first threequarters of the nineteenth century and given the foregoing outline it is unsurprising to find the Carters' involved in their affairs. Thus, a memorial of lease dated 24th February 1810, refers to Mark Carter as the President of the town based British Friendly Society. Unfortunately, little more is known of the organisation other than the fact that the Society was housed in an inn (probably the Three Horse Shoes) situated near the common pinfold on Racca Green. The premises were leased from one William Dickinson and his family and clearly served as an ale house for the deed contains the name of several previous occupants as undertenants, a practice quite common in the case of licensed premises. In addition, it was quite common for early 'box' clubs to be housed in such premises. If such was the case with The British Society we are, alas, denied the name of the inn. The occupations of two other officials co-named with Carter as the "stewards and treasurers" reveal them to be local craftsmen suggesting a similarly composed membership. (109)

An indenture of lease of later date: 10th September 1841, which names John Carter as one of the contracting parties, names Joseph Holmes as being the Master or President and Joseph Hall and John Fozzard as the Stewards of the Male Friendly Society. Knottingley based, this Society is also named as the Brotherly Society. (110) No location is given but it is likely that the Society occupied the same premises as the aforementioned British Society for John Fozzard is known to have kept a beerhouse at Racca Green at that period. (111) The identity of the possible site is somewhat confused, however, by the fact that another of the named parties is Ann Pickering, a widow, who is known to have succeeded her late husband, George, as the licensee of the Buck Inn, Aire Street, and this may have provided an alternative venue for the meetings of the Brotherly Society. (112)

A further connection between the early savings clubs and licensed premises and the involvement of John Carter is the fact that Carter is on record as having purchased a share in the "Money Club" held at John Bentley's Rising Sun Inn, in July 1852. (113) In addition, Carter's accounts contain frequent reference to his share in a local organisation named as the Victoria Society. (114) An entry of 10th October 1872, notes the receipt of a dividend of £7 from Carter's portion of the stock of this Society (115) which may indicate its dissolution for by that date the role of local savings clubs had been superceded by savings banks and trade union benefit clubs or where the former were still in existence they had undergone a transformation by being amalgamated into larger regionally based units.

A long-held investment within the Carter family was a share in the Preparatory Wesleyan School at Sheffield. The circumstances in which this share was acquired are not known but its acquisition, given Carter's Anglicanism, is all the more unusual for being associated with the Methodist movement but again, illustrates John Carter's ecumenicalism. The school was opened on the 8th August,1838. Set in six acres of land on Glossop Road, the Corinthian style building provided room for 150 boarders. By 1845 a Patent Royal allowed the school to be called Wesley College and by 1848 it was affiliated to the University of London. (116) John Carter's share was purchased for £50 at an unrecorded date but probably at the time of the foundation of the school. There is no indication of any financial return on the investment although the establishment was in existence for well over half a century. Renamed as the Wesley College, the company's affairs were wound up by a process of voluntary liquidation in 1894 at which time George William Carter recorded a loss of £38-15-0 on the original value of the share. (117)

George Carter's financial investments, apart from the acquisition of land and property, were of a more private nature than those of his father. Substantial sums of money were invested by George Carter in stock issued by the large municipalities which had begun to develop during the nineteenth century and now required private investment to enable them to embark on projects commensurate with their civic status. The purchase of property in the city of Bradford and its surrounding district may well have been undertaken by Carter in conjunction with his investment of £3,500 withdrawn from Tynemouth Corporation for reinvestment with that of Bradford. (118) Similarly, Carter invested several sums in the purchase of perpetual annuities with the Borough of Scarbrough. In December 1892, he paid £4,038. for one such annuity (119) and in September 1897 bought a water annuity at a cost of £588-36. (120) Two further investments of £240 and £123 were made in January 1901, followed by one purchased for £710-3-6 in October the following year and a final one bought for £162-10-0 in September 1903. (121) Here again, Carter was probably influenced by considerations arising from urban development for the introduction of cheap rail fares had transformed the genteel, refined watering hole of an earlier age into a bustling holiday resort increasingly frequented by the urban proletariat of the industrial West Riding and elsewhere. Again, Carter's municipal investments were paralleled by the purchase of real estate within the Borough of Scarbrough.

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NOTES:
(1) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74. folio 17.
(2) ibid.
(3) ibid folio 30.
(4) ibid folio 13.
(5) ibid passim.
(6) C.A.E. Uncatalogued business papers - personal assessment of monies owing to John Carter 27-7-1866.
(7) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74. folio 16.
(8) ibid folio 29.
(9) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. OF/383/293. OM/240/216 & NX/180/149.
(10) C.A.E. Uncatalogued business papers. The extent of Pease's debt to Carter and Atkinson is unspecified but debts to lesser creditors include sums of ×150 & ×100. Also c.f. W.Y.A.S. Wakefield OM/240/216.
(11) loc cit. LD/374/266. WM/478/522 & WM/690/741.
(12) loc cit. RC/510/582. KX/656/622. PL/511/499. QK/320/356 & WK/73/79.
(13) loc cit. PS/719/694.
(14) loc cit. RQ/357/426. RU/460/516 & RT/409/465.
(15) loc cit. QC/384/398 & RD/582/654.
(16) loc cit. 673/517/608 & PQ/531/564.
(17) loc cit. PL/511/598 & PQ/531/564.
(18) loc cit. QE/29/35 & QE/28/34.
(19) loc cit. QE/28/34 & QF/284/282.
(20) loc cit. QX/246/282 & QX/248/284.
(21) loc cit. RO/259/283 & UH/251/294.
(22) loc cit. PC/374/360 & 602/419/480.
(23) loc cit. ZT/51/53.
(24) loc cit. YC/707/784.
(25) loc cit. QC/385/399.
(26) Knottingley Township Rate Book, 1857, pp177-85 passim
(27) ibid folio 26.
(28) Kelly's Directory, 1892. The owners of the manorial lands are named as Joseph Senior, William Jackson and Thomas Worfolk.
(29) Pontefract Advertiser 20th December 1863.
(30) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1860-69 (n.p.) entry 3-3-1866. The sale was undertaken by Briggs on behalf of his son, David who was a minor.
(31) ibid entry 24-2-1869.
(32) loc cit. John Carter's Private Ledger,1869-73, (n.p.) entries 4-3-1873 & 2-2-1873. Goodchild. J 'Castleford Brewing', unpublished typescript, March 1979, Goodchild Collection, Wakefield, states that Mitchell Bros. owned three farms used for supplying their brewery with corn and horse fodder.
(33) loc cit. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1875-85, p99.
(34) loc cit. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1881-85, folios 39 & 46.
(35) loc cit. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1875-85, passim.
(36) loc cit Company Account Book, 1870-78, folio 172.
(37) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. 612/395/489 & 613/714/858.
(38) loc cit. 15/343/186. 5/411/222. 13/449/236. 19/141/79 & 10/351/213.
(39) loc cit. 728/449/528.
(40) loc cit. 908/672/863 & 908/499/649.
(41) loc cit. 24/482/266.
(42) C.A.E. G.W.Carter's Rent Ledger, 1875-85. Newspaper notice pasted inside back cover of Ledger advertising auction sale re Haddlesey property to be held at the Londesborough Arms Hotel, Selby, 29-10-1877.
(43) ibid. Notice of sale by auction to be conducted by Bentley & Son, Knottingley, at the Londesborough Arms Hotel, Selby, 13-4-1885.
(44) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. 9/814/448.
(45) Blanchard. D. (ed). op cit, Volume 2, pp123-24 & pp87-89.
(46) Mathias, op cit, pp428-36.
(47) Port of Hull Register of Shipping, No. 307. Also, Port of Goole Register of Shipping No.25 (1830). The vessel was declared unseaworthy in August 1836.
(48) ibid. No. 17, (1839).
(49) ibid. 9th September 1841.
(50) ibid. No. 45, (1839).
(51) ibid. No. 72, (1836) & No. 8, (1839)
(52) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger,1837-74, folio 12.
(53) ibid. Also, Uncatalogued business papers - bill of sale dated 22-11-1848.
(54) Port of Goole Register of Shipping No. 43. (1848) & Port of Hull register of Shipping, No.3, (1841).
(55) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 12.
(56) Port of Goole Register of Shipping. No. 43, (1848)
(57) ibid. No.69. (1840).
(58) ibid. No.28. (1854).
(59) Port of Hull Register of Shipping. No. 54. (1838) & no.120.(1876).
(60) Port of Goole Register of Shipping.No.20. (1850). I am indebted to Mr R. Gosney for material and information concerning Carter vessels and also to Mr C.P.Dearden for additional information.
(61) Blanchard. D. (ed), op cit, volume 2, p79.
(62) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 16.
(63) ibid. folio 29.
(64) ibid. folio 53.
(65) ibid. folio 17.
(66) ibid. folios 30 & 73.
(67) C.A.E. Uncatalogued business papers. 27-7-1866. For a full breakdown of railway investment c.f. Rent Ledger,1875-85, pp421-29. Also, c.f. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 125.
(68) C.A.E. Company Account Book, 1873-80, folio 152. Also, possibly, ibid, folio 204.
(69) ibid. folio 3.
(70) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. ON/211/189.
(71) loc cit. PF/320/316. I am indebted to Mr John Goodchild, Goodchild Collection, Wakefield, for information concerning the business interests of Thomas Mark Carter.
(72) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. PL/283/286.
(73) loc cit. PT/431/286.
(74) loc cit. RC/510/583. The George Street residence is still in existence. I am grateful to Mr John Goodchild for drawing my attention to this fact.
(75) Owen. C.C. 'An Industrial History of Burton on Trent'. Appendix 33, based upon data from the 1861 Census Return. I am indebted to Mrs P.J.Phelps, A.L.A., District Librarian, and Mrs P. Richardson, Community Librarian, Burton on Trent Public Library, for this and additional information re Carters' brewery interests in Burton on Trent.
(76) C.A.E. Company Account Book, 1860-70, folio 78.
(77) Various Trade Directories for the town of Burton on Trent reveal the following details of the Carter brewery there:-
1868 Carter Thomas Mark & Sons, Horninglow Street.
1872 Carter Samuel, Victoria Brewery.
1880 " " " " .
1900 Carter Samuel, Brewer, 153 Victoria Street.
Owen, op cit, Appendix 34, Breweries 1888, names Carter & Scattergood, Victoria Street, 70 employees, 30,000 barrels p.a. I am grateful to Mesdames Phelps and Richardson of Burton on Trent Public Library for providing this information.
(78) I am indebted to Mr John Goodchild and Mr David Parry for information concerning the Carter family and the Market Street Brewery, Wakefield.
(79) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. MU/454/459. Parry Dave, Parry Don & Walker Alan, 'Bygone Breweries of Sheffield: a summary of the brewing industry in the City of Sheffield 100 years ago'. Manchester (1982). p18, note the likelihood that the Eldon Street Brewery was demolished to make way for the extension to the Royal Hospital, Sheffield, circa 1890. I am grateful to Mr David Parry for drawing my attention to this source and for kindly allowing me to borrow his personal copy of the book.
(80) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 3.
(81) ibid. folio 4. I am indebted to Mr David Parry for information concerning Watson's subsequent association with the Mansfield Brewery.
(82) ibid. folio 28 & passim.
(83) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. QU/386/417. RG/719/824 & TQ/134/154.
(84) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74. folios 16 & 29.
(85) I am indebted to Mr David Parry for this information.
(86) C.A.E. op cit, folios 4 & 57. David Parry has produced a supplementary essay to the 'Bygone Breweries....' which, inter alia, outlines the subsequent history and demise of the Eldon Street Brewery. Unpublished typescript, (1996) I am grateful to Mr Parry for the loan of this study.
(87) C.A.E. op cit, folio 3.
(88) ibid. folio 4.
(89) ibid. folios 39,40, 55 & 57.
(90) ibid.
(91) ibid. folio 57. Also c.f. Parry D. et al, op cit, p18 for subsequent history of Eldon Street Brewery.
(92) C.A.E. op cit, folio 41.
(93) Blanchard. D. (ed), Volume 1, p25.
(94) C.A.E. op cit, folio 87.
(95) ibid. folio 86. Also Private Ledger, 1846-79 (n.p.) entries 2-1-1865 & 18-1-1865.
(96) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 86.
(97) ibid. folio 87.
(98) John Hope was present as a mourner at Carter's funeral. c.f. Pontefract Telegraph 18-10-1873.
(99) I am indebted to Ms Helen Philips of the City Museum & Art Gallery, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, for information concerning the subsequent history of the firm of Hope & Carter.
(100) C.A.E. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1875-85, pp209-14.
(101) ibid. pp193-98.
(102) White's Directory, 1848.
(103) C.A.E. Uncatalogued business papers. Personal summary of monies owing to John Carter, 27-7-1866.
(104) loc cit. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio 62.
(105) Pontefract Telegraph 18th October 1873.
(106) C.A.E. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1875-85, p403.
(107) loc cit. G.W.Carter's Personal Ledger, 1885-1913, pp299 & 302.
(108) W.Y.A.S. Wakefield. FK/437/548.
(109) loc cit. OE/204/171.
(110) White's Directory 1838.
(111) ibid. Also Slater's Directory 1848.
(112) C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folio49.
(113) ibid. passim.
(114) loc cit. John Carter's Private Ledger,1869-73, (n.p.) entry 10-10-1872.
(115) I am indebted to Miss L.Lewis, Sheffield City Council Archives Dept. for information concerning the Weslyan Proprietary School/College. c.f. White's Sheffield Directories, 1845 & 1896. Also, The Establishment, Principals, Discipline and Educational Course of the Wesleyan Proprietary Grammar School, Sheffield. (1839). C.A.E. John Carter's Private Ledger, 1837-74, folios 16 & 29.
(116) loc cit. G.W.Carter's Private Ledger, 1885-1913, p177. In 1905 Wesley College amalgamated with the Royal Grammar School, Sheffield, to become the King Edward VII School. c.f. White's Directory, 1906. The school is still in existence. I am grateful to Miss L. Lewis for this information.
(117) ibid. p179.
(118) ibid. p304.
(119) ibid. p268.
(120) ibid.