A Life Reclaimed: The Remarkable Story of John Carter Born in the quiet Essex town of Coggeshall in 1815, John Carter’s life was initially marked by the humble existence of a silk weaver. His early years offered little indication of the artistic path he would ultimately forge. Attending local schools – first the infants' school on Church Street, then the parish national school, and finally the endowed school founded by Sir Robert Hitcham – Carter displayed no particular aptitude for art, though he harbored a childhood fondness for sketching in his books and even upon the walls of his home. T…