Carter, Thomas, Stone St, Maidstone and Blue Town, Sheerness, Kent, cm, u, tin man and brazier (1790–1834). The earliest reference to this business occurs in the Maidstone Journal, 27 July 1790. The business was trading as Carter & Palmer and offered a wide range of goods and services. They acted as auctioneers and sworn appraisers. They offered to supply ‘Bath, Pantheon and all kinds of STOVES with Windup and other Kitchen ranges’. ‘Hair Trunks and Caravan Boxes’ were included in their stock. They offered to re-silver mirrors and dealt in second hand furniture, as well as keeping large stocks of paper hangings. They could ‘lay Oast and Malt Kilns with Iron-plate’ and offered to purchase old metal or take it in exchange. They also stated they required two apps for whom premiums would be required. The size of the business is reflected in the insurance cover that they carried which included £400 for a house and offices, £500 for stock and utensils at Maidstone, and a further £200 for premises at Sheerness, with £600 for stock and utensils. From 1803–09 the business traded as Thomas Carter & Son but the Sheerness side is not mentioned after 1803. In 1810 the firm was styled Carter & Morris and was offering stock ‘in fashion and workmanship inferior to none in London and at Prices considerably lower’. They offered to supply country shopkeepers with their range of goods. The firm continued to trade as Carter & Morris until 1829 though from 1823 their address was given as Week St, Maidstone. A Thomas William Carter with house and premises in Stone St is however listed in the 1834 poll bk. [D; Maidstone Journal, 27 July 1790, 27 February 1810; GL, Sun MS vol. 37, ref. 713331]