Tutankhamun Centenary : 2022
Howard Carter : Egyptologist
The Early Years: His Childhood
Struggles
The Mask Slips on
Howard Carter: Part 3 ( of 3)
Some Shocking Childhood Details Revealed
Strange, touching particulars and co-incidences have been unearthed by William Cross from
the epic Carnarvon, Carter, Tutakhamun legend for inclusion in his new book " Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun
Revisted : The hidden truths and doomed relationships"
Recent researches by the Society biographer William Cross - the author of “ Lordy ! Tutankhamun’s Patron As
A Young Man “ - who is currently drafting a new book on Lord George Carnarvon and Howard
Carter - have revealed some shocking
new facts.
South London
Howard Carter grew up mainly in South
London NOT as is so often stated
in Swaffham in rural Norfolk
Howard Carter was born in South Kensington in 1874 , the last of the
children of Samuel John and Martha
Carter.
Howard Carter’s development
years were spent largely in Kensington and Chelsea in South West London. The existing ( and in some cases respected ) narratives,
including chronology from Carter himself, that give his birthplace as
Swaffham in Norfolk and
dwell on his childhood years in rural Norfolk are incorrect.
Carter family Cottage in Swaffham
Howard was a sickly child and needed regular nursing
but this did not involve staying
and only being hand reared by two
maiden aunts. The roots of Carter’s parents families were in Swaffham, and Howard’s grandparents would have known him as a small
child.
Howard Carter resented the rough physical
treatment from his female relatives and nurses who sought to help
him cope with his disabilities.
Swaffham in the eastern County of Norfolk was home to various
women who featured and strongly
influenced the wider Carter family.
Whilst
it is flawed, even contrived to place Howard Carter
in Norfolk other than for short stays when visiting relatives with his mother or father he was given little privacy and jostled about by a variety of female relatives, including those resident with Martha Carter at the family
homes in South London – this near manhandling was something Howard loathed when looking back on his life.
As a boy aged between 8 and
14 Lord Carnarvon ( when he was Lord Porchester ) also fell under the tight control of strong women an eccentric maiden aunt and a highly conservative married aunt, both his father’s sisters.
Tut As a Boy
Likewise Tutankhamun was influenced
by his strong female personalities.
This treatment – near abuse
by female relatives affected ALL three of the central figures in the King Tut tale especially as adults in forming relationships with women
Carter ‘s brothers’ childhood years
and their whereabouts in
Norfolk are misinterpreted by
biographers and wrongly used to describe / represent Howard’s early years.
Howard Carter’s brothers were boarded out to various relatives and residents in Swaffham in Norfolk and over several years, even before Howard was born; from a drill down into the whereabouts of Howard’s older surviving brothers it is clear
these siblings were often
mistaken as being Howard and stories
attributed are not about Howard but relate to his many older
brothers.
Carter taking tea in Cairo
Howard Carter had a form of autism, with serious
learning difficulties
Howard Carter and Lord George Carnarvon ( as Lord Porchester )
were never scholarly or intellectuals ,
they were slow learners , in
modern day terms they may have suffered
from a form of autism that made them
prone to serious learning difficulties, Carter’s lack of a
fundamental education made him
insecure and robbed him of a certain degree of confidence and literacy.
He made up for this by acquiring skills as a tracer and an artist. This is a
common reward for those with autism, sometimes their creative talent evolves
faster elsewhere than their grasp of the three R’s. In Carnarvon’s case he was fluent in
languages and could play the bango, but he was thrown out of Eton and Cambridge
and not considered fit for purpose for the army.
This is a research draft from the
new book
“ Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited : The hidden truths and doomed relationships”
By William Cross, FSA Scot
Due for publication 4 November 2016
Short Title for this 3 part article is
“ Howard Carter : Egyptologist
: Early Years
The Mask
Slips on Howard Carter"
Any comments or queries please contact the Author
William Cross, FSA Scot by e-mail
3 January 2016
COPYRIGHT WILLIAM CROSS AND BOOK MIDDEN PUBLISHING
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