The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 90
LEGACY FAMILIES:
THE CARTERS
D
avid Carter (1949–1958,
Gray) will be a familiar
name to many within
the extended Bishops
family, and certainly to those
who have had much to do with
the OD Union in the last few years.
At school he held the position of
school prefect and Secretary of
Rugby in his matric year, the latter
position involving regularly liaising
with Piley Rees and posting team
selections in the wind tunnel.
It was a role that allowed him
to get to know every boy’s name
in the school – one he credits as
a great influence in his later career.
David went on to chair the
Southern Transvaal Branch of the
ODU while living in Johannesburg,
and then, after his return to Cape
Town, was appointed to the
Council in 1992. He was Chair
from 1996 until 2000. He was
subsequently elected as a VicePresident of the ODU and then
President in 2020. He stood down
in March this year at the age of 85.
As much as he has done for
Bishops, though, David is but
one among an interwoven tree of
Carter and Cloete ODs, stretching
back over a hundred years, with a
connection to one of the school’s
great benefactors, JW Jagger.
Lionel Edward Carter (1914–
1915), David’s uncle, was both
86 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
the first Carter to attend Bishops
and the first of many to qualify as
a chartered accountant. He went on
to become director of the esteemed
Syfrets Trust Company, and served
as Honorary Treasurer of the OD
Union from 1947 to 1963, a position
with significant profile at the time.
His son, Guy Carter (1949–1957,
Gray), also a chartered accountant
and later financial manager of
CAPAB, overlapped at school with
cousin David. In their shared time
at Bishops, they were known simply
as Carter (i) and Carter (ii). Lionel’s
younger brother and David’s father,
Edward Carter (1917–1922), rose
through the Syfrets board to
become managing director and
later chairman. He was a trustee
of the Four Schools Trust and a
lifelong supporter and benefactor
of Bishops who “to his dying day”
credited the school with shaping
the person he became.
Edward’s two sons followed him
to Bishops. David we already know
about. His brother Peter Carter
(1954–1963, Founders), another
chartered accountant, went on to
marry and settle in the UK. David’s
son, Jonathan Carter (1988–1991,
Founders), was already boarding
when the family returned from
Johannesburg; today he is a public
finance and policy specialist at
Cornerstone Economic Research.
Jonathan’s son, Luke Carter
(2014–2025, Founders), carried
the name into a fourth generation,
concluding his 12 years at Bishops
as Head of School – a proud honour
for the family. This year, Luke is
working as a stooge equivalent in
England, and backpacking through
Europe when he can. Luke’s first
cousin Matthew Cloete (2023-,
Grade 11, School) is David’s
grandson through his daughter
Gabby. He is also the grandson
of Guy Cloete, who arrived in
Gray as a new boy in 1958,
David’s matric year.
Through David’s wife, Sal (née
Baxter), a great-granddaughter of
John William Jagger, both Luke and
Matthew are direct descendants
of the man whose generosity did
so much for the school. Upon
his death in 1930, JW Jagger gave
£10,000 to Bishops, the equivalent
of some R15-million–R20-million
today – an amount that, among
other things, funded an ongoing
scholarship to UCT, the building
of Jagger Hall at the Prep, and the
purchase of what we now know
as the Lutgensvale, originally the
Jagger Fields. Jagger was also a
UCT benefactor, and contributed
to the establishment of Herschel.
We asked David, Jonathan and
Luke about their respective times
at Bishops:
PHOTOGRAPHS FORREST BEAUMONT
To mark the resignation of David Carter as President
of the ODU earlier this year, we asked him about his
intricate connection to and memories of Bishops.
This is the first in a new series on legacy families
