Richard Carte (; 23 February 1808 – 1891) was an English flute-maker, flautist and composer. One of his sons was the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte, producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
Life and career Carte was born Richard CartJacobs, Arthur (2004). "Carte, Richard D'Oyly (1844–1901)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. accessed 12 September 2008. on 23 February 1808 in Silchester, Hampshire. He studied with George RudallStebbings, p. 1867 on an eight key "Nicholson" flute. By 1824 he was giving concerts in London both as a soloist and an orchestra player.
Carte married Eliza Carte (née Jones); the couple eloped, to the disappointment of her father, Thomas Jones, a clergyman. Two of their six children, Henry W. Carte (1856–1926) and Richard D'Oyly Carte, became important in their own fields: the first as flute-maker and the second for staging the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas.Young, pp. 98–99 The other children were Blanche (1846–1935), Viola (1848–1925), Rose (1854–1940BMD entry of death for Rose Coulson, Death register, 1st quarter 1940, age 85, Camberwell, Vol. 1d, p. 1295) and Eliza (1860–1941).
Carte was a popular lecturer on the development of the flute and was secretary of the newly founded "London Society of Amateur Flautists" in 1866. He was a friend of Louis Spohr, and in 1843 was a member of Jullien's famous band. At the height of his career (1844), he adopted Theobald Boehm's flute with the open G-sharp, and two years later brought out a manual for it, the copyright for which he sold for £100. His best-known flute pupil was Richard Shepherd Rockstro.Fairley, p. 108
In 1850, he became a partner at the prominent flute-making firm of Rudall, Rose & Co., instigating many improvements and additions to the Boehm system, which culminated in his popular 1867 model.Burgess, Michael (1975). "Richard D'Oyly Carte", The Savoyard, January 1975, pp. 7–11 After he became a partner in the business, it changed its name to Rudall, Rose, Carte and Co. and later to Rudall, Carte & Co."New Music". The Era. 21 March 1869. Rudall, Carte and Co was still trading in the West End in 1954: see The Times, 16 December 1954, p. 1
Compositions Complete Instruction for the Boehm flute (1845) Concertants Duets for two flutes Fantasias Grands Solos for flute and piano
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