Edward Carteret (1671 – 15 April 1739) was an English politician and served as

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

from 1721 until his death.

Life

Edward Carteret was the third son of

Philip Carteret FRS Sir Philip Carteret, FRS (1641 – 26 May 1672), was a British courtier from the De Carteret family of Jersey. He was killed in the Battle of Solebay. Biography He was the eldest son of Sir George Carteret and his wife and cousin, Elizab ...

Hawnes Haynes is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, about south of Bedford. It includes the small hamlet of Haynes Church End. It used to be known as Hawnes. North from Haynes is a hamlet named Silver End, then further up is Her ...

and younger brother of

George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret (July 1667 – 22 September 1695) was son of Philip Carteret (courtier), Sir Philip Carteret (died 1672) and the grandson of Sir George Carteret, Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret, 1st Baronet (died 1680). His ...

. He was educated at Brentwood School and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. Carteret was returned as Member of Parliament for

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

in 1698 and for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

in 1702. He was returned as MP for

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. The village is reported to have a population of 2,259 (2021 Census) History and geography With a population of a ...

at a by-election on 9 December 1717 and resigned in 1720 when he was made Postmaster General. He was Joint Postmaster General from 1721 to 1732, Postmaster General from 1732 to 1733 and Joint Postmaster General again from 1732 to his death. In 1699, he had married Bridget Exton, the daughter of Sir

Thomas Exton Sir Thomas Exton (1631–1688) was an English admiralty lawyer, Member of Parliament, and Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Life His father was the admiralty lawyer John Exton. He entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1641, was admitted a mem ...

, M.P.,

Dean of the Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribun ...

court of Canterbury and judge of the Admiralty. They had 3 sons and 3 daughters. Carteret died from the stone, suddenly on 15 April 1739.

References

Person Sheet
1671 births 1739 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Postmasters general of the United Kingdom English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1702–1705 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Huntingdonshire {{1698-England-MP-stub