Carter’s Passing

Thomas Carter’s residence at the Convent by no means restricted his interest in the various other organisations under his aegis.

He made frequent visits to many of the foundations which were within reasonable travelling distance of Windsor and his services as a preacher were often in demand. Despite pressure from his successor at Clewer, the Reverend Roland Errington, he withstood, for a long time, invitations to preach at Clewer.

However, at last he agreed to do so on the Church’s patronal festival: the feast of St. Andrew in 1896. So, once more. he occupied the pulpit from which he had preached for 36 years.

But his health was failing and his deafness was increasing. In 1897 he resigned his position as Superior-General of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, which he had held for thirty-five years. Members of the society combined to give him a splendid set of altar vessels. In thanking them he said, “brokenly” as it is reported, “I think you’ve overdone about me. But I don’t know…I don’t know.”

One of his pleasures that year was seeing the first work of his architect grandson: a new bell-tower for the House of Mercy. In December he suffered a heavy blow: the wholly unexpected death of his only son. From that time his strength failed more and more. In the summer of 1901 after a holiday in Ryde he suffered an “internal attack” from the effects of which he never wholly rallied. On October 26th he presided at the re-election of the Mother Superior of the Convent and on the same day visited the Convalescent Hospital. The next day he did not feel able to get up and on the following day– the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, – he passed away “without pain or struggle” in the presence of his two daughters and a nursing sister.