Godfrey Downes Carter (1830 – 29 April 1902) was an Australian businessman, politician and

mayor of Melbourne This is a list of mayors and lord mayor, lord mayors of the City of Melbourne, a Local government in Australia, local government area of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Mayors (1842–1902) Lord mayors (1902–1980) The title o ...

from 1884 to 1885. Born in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

the son of a slaveholder, Carter was educated in England, and migrated to Australia in 1853. He would ultimately benefit from the compensation his father received from the British government for 22 slaves upon the abolition of slavery. Following his term as mayor, Carter represented the

Electoral district of West Melbourne West Melbourne (sometimes referred to as Melbourne West) was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1904. The Electoral District of West Melbourne was defined as being bound by ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 1885 to 1889. Carter died in

South Yarra, Victoria South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

on 29 April 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Godfrey Downes 1830 births 1902 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Treasurers of Victoria 19th-century Jamaican people 19th-century mayors of places in Australia