Thomas Carter’s residence at the Convent by no means restricted his
interest in the various other organisations under his aegis.
He made frequent visits to many of the foundations which were within
reasonable travelling distance of Windsor and his services as a preacher were
often in demand. Despite pressure from his successor at Clewer, the Reverend
Roland Errington, he withstood, for a long time, invitations to preach at
Clewer.
However, at last he agreed to do so on the Church’s patronal festival: the
feast of St. Andrew in 1896. So, once more. he occupied the pulpit from which he
had preached for 36 years.
But his health was failing and his deafness was increasing. In 1897 he
resigned his position as Superior-General of the Confraternity of the Blessed
Sacrament, which he had held for thirty-five years. Members of the society
combined to give him a splendid set of altar vessels. In thanking them he said,
"brokenly" as it is reported, "I think you’ve overdone about
me. But I don’t know…I don’t know."
One of his pleasures that year was seeing the first work of his architect
grandson: a new bell-tower for the House of Mercy. In December he suffered a
heavy blow: the wholly unexpected death of his only son. From that time his
strength failed more and more. In the summer of 1901 after a holiday in Ryde he
suffered an "internal attack" from the effects of which he never
wholly rallied. On October 26th he presided at the re-election of the
Mother Superior of the Convent and on the same day visited the Convalescent
Hospital. The next day he did not feel able to get up and on the following day–
the Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, - he passed away "without pain or
struggle" in the presence of his two daughters and a nursing sister.