Family and Education

bap. 31 Mar. 1664, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Thomas Carew† of Barley by Elizabeth, da. of John Cooper of Bowhill, Exeter. educ. M. Temple 1684. unm.  suc. fa. 1681.1

Offices Held

?Sub-commr. prizes, Plymouth 1689.2

Capt. 10 Ft. by 1690–4; maj. and capt. of ft. Northcote’s regt. 1694–7, 31 Ft. 1702, lt.-col. 1703–d.3

Biography

Carew was an army officer in the 1st Earl of Bath’s regiment, which was composed mainly of Cornishmen. In 1694 he transferred to another regiment, but was placed on half-pay when it disbanded in 1697. He acted as executor in 1699 to his brother Henry, a teller of the Exchequer, who had been involved in the false endorsement of Exchequer bills (see DUNCOMBE, Charles). Returned for Saltash at a by-election in 1701 and again at the general election in December, presumably on the interest of his kinsman Sir Richard Carew, 4th Bt., of Antony, he was classed as a Tory by Robert Harley* and voted on 26 Feb. 1702 in favour of the motion to vindicate the Commons proceedings in the impeachments of William III’s ministers. At the 1702 general election he was again elected for Saltash, but must have been abroad for most of that year since he served with his new regiment on the expedition to Cadiz and took part in the capture of the Spanish galleons in Vigo Bay. Sir Richard Carew, upon his death in 1703, bequeathed his personal estate to Thomas’ brother, Richard, also of Barley, no doubt owing to financial disputes with Nicholas Morice†, his surviving trustee. In 1704 Carew was forecast as a probable supporter of the Tack, but did not vote for it on 28 Nov. His army commission explains his appearance on a list of placemen for 1705. He died on 7 Apr. 1705, two days after the dissolution, and was buried at St. Thomas the Apostle’s, Exeter. He left each of his three sisters £100, and the same amount to his native parish; the remainder of his estate went to his brother, Richard.4

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Stuart Handley

Notes

• 1. IGI, Devon; Vivian, Vis. Devon, 142; The Gen. xxv. 155; Le Neve’s Knights (Harl. Soc. viii), 264.
• 2. CSP Dom. 1689–90, p. 172.
• 3. Ibid. 1690–1, p. 3.
• 4. CJ, xii. 574; Cal. Treas. Bks. xiv. 349; xv. 450; PCC 85 Gee.