Bernard Carter

Bernard "Bunny" Shirley Carter (May 29, 1893 – November 8, 1961) His sister, Caroline Mildred Carter, married Archibald, Viscount Acheson (later the 5th Earl of Gosford), in 1910.

His father was one of fourteen children born to Mary Buckner (née Ridgeley) Carter and Bernard Carter, a prominent lawyer and professor. Through his paternal grandfather, he was a member of the prominent Calvert, Carter and Lee families of Virginia and was a direct descendant of Henry Lee III, the 9th Governor of Virginia, and George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, the first colonial proprietor of the Province of Maryland. His maternal grandparents were Carolyn (née Fellowes) Morgan and banker David Pierce Morgan. His maternal uncle was William Fellowes Morgan Sr., a member of the New Jersey General Assembly (and close friend of Theodore Roosevelt), who married the well-known tennis and golf player Emma Leavitt. His cousin, William Fellowes Morgan Jr., was the Commissioner of Public Markets for New York City.

Carter spent most of his early youth abroad while his father was in the diplomatic service. He was educated at the Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts where he graduated in 1911. He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1915, followed by Harvard Law School, but withdrew in 1917 to enter the Army during World War I. He became chairman of the board in 1955 (succeeding Nelson Dean Jay), serving until 1959 when the Morgan bank was merged with the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. After the merger, Carter was named chairman of the policy committee and a member of the directory advisory council of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, She was a daughter of Louise (née Leavitt) Thacher and U.S. Representative Thomas Chandler Thacher. Louise's mother was the sister of Emma Leavitt-Morgan, the wife of Carter's uncle William. Together, they were the parents of: Bernard Shirley Carter Jr. (1917–2002), who married Elizabeth Ann Wills, a daughter of Dr. Harry Calvin Wills of Grand Rapids, Michigan. John Timothy Carter (1922–1928), who died young. David Ridgeley Carter (1929–2009), also a banker who served as vice president of Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in Paris and a member of the board of directors of the American Hospital of Paris; he married Pauline de Leusse, a daughter of the Comtesse Paul de Leusse of the Château de Valgenceuse at Senlis, Oise.

In 1953, his wife was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honour for her more than thirty years of charitable work in France, particularly among the war blind. After a long illness, Carter died in Paris on November 8, 1961. His widow died in 1984.

Social life and volunteer work They lived in Paris and, in 1928, they purchased what was previously known as Hôtel Germain, a hôtel particulier in Senlis. The house, a 10,800 square feet mansion, with more than 14 bedrooms, became a gathering place for diplomats, journalists and members of the Parisian beau monde. Notable guests included Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, columnist Walter Lippmann, author Louis Bromfield and various aristocrats, diplomats, expatriates and visiting Americans. The home, still owned by the Carter family, was featured in the 2003 film Le Divorce, directed by James Ivory from Merchant Ivory Productions.

Carter served as the honorary treasurer of the International Chamber of Commerce and president of the board of governors of the American Hospital of Paris. He was also a trustee of the American Library of Paris and a vestryman of the American Pro-Cathedral in Paris and as European vice president of the Associated Harvard Clubs.

In New York, he was a member of the Brook Club and Racquet and Tennis Club. In Washington, D.C., he was a member of the Metropolitan Club and, in London, a member of the Buck's Club. In Paris, he was a member of the Travellers Club, the Union interalliées, the Harvard Club of France and the American Club of Paris.

Descendants Through his son David, he was a grandfather of Sylvia, Natalie, and Laura Carter, and a great-grandfather of the French journalist and writer, Nicolas d'Estienne d'Orves (b. 1974), Natalie de Watrigant, Charles de Watrigant, Joseph Sainderichin, and Noe Sainderichin.