Benjamin Atwell Carter was born at Fiddington, Somerset, in 1868, the eldest of five children of Benjamin Carter, a farmer, and his wife, Jane (née Tilley). Benjamin’s mother died in 1878. Three years later at Clifton, Bristol, Benjamin married Emily Ann Hayman, who had been hired to look after the children after their mother’s death. Soon after the wedding the family moved from Somerset to Manor Farm, Aston Somerville, Gloucestershire, where Benjamin’s two half-sisters were born. The Carters only stayed at Manor Farm for three years, before moving to Field Farm, Wickhamford.
At the time of the 1891 census taken on the night of 5th April, Benjamin Atwell Carter was living at home, assisting on the farm. Shortly after this he sailed from England for a new life in Canada. He appeared on the 1891 Canadian census taken on 8th May, described as a farmer living in the Dufferin district of Manitoba.
On 19th November 1894 at South Norfolk, Manitoba, Benjamin married a Scottish woman, Jane McCoig, who had emigrated to Canada in 1890. Two daughters were born at South Norfolk: Jane (1895) and Maud (1896). At the time of the 1901 Canadian census, Benjamin was still farming at South Norfolk with Jane and the two girls. A son, Archie Benjamin, was born in 1902. In the 1906 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Benjamin and Jane were listed with their three children. Ten years later, in the 1916 census, Clara B Carter was now listed as Benjamin’s wife; a Scottish woman, she had emigrated to Canada in 1896. What had happened to Jane is unknown. No death record has been found for Jane and no marriage record has been found for Clara. Two further sons were listed as living in the household: Ross (c1900) and Alfred (c1905).
On 28th March 1918 at South Norfolk, Benjamin married Louisa Charlotte Teasdale. Louisa had been born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in 1892, and had emigrated to Canada about 1900. Their only son, Sidney (1921-2012) ,was born at Lorette, Manitoba, on 23rd December 1921. Where Benjamin and Louisa had been at the time of the 1921 census is unknown. In 1921, 19-year-old Archie, was in charge of the farm at South Norfolk; his sister, Maud, also lived there.
In the 1930s, Benjamin, Louisa and Sidney moved to a farm in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia.
Benjamin died at Mission, British Columbia, on 27th July 1941. After his death, Louisa married again to Leopold Frederick Jaeger. She died at Cranbrook, British Columbia, in 1966; her son, Sidney, registered the death.