Harry Carter

Born in 1749 near Breage in Cornwall, Henry "Harry" Carter grew up in the Carter family of Prussia Cove, a group long associated with smuggling along the Cornish coast. What makes him stand out is that much of what is known about the family comes from his own surviving autobiography, later published as The Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler.

Carter took part in the dangerous seaborne trade that made Prussia Cove famous, and sources note that he was imprisoned in Saint-Malo during the American Revolutionary era. After returning home, he appears to have left smuggling behind. He married Elizabeth Flindell in 1786, had one child, and became known as a Methodist local preacher.

He died in April 1829. For readers today, Carter's appeal is simple: he wrote from experience, and his story brings together adventure, hardship, religious change, and the rough texture of everyday life in Cornwall.