He succeeded his father in 1551. At the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I, he is said to have held a minor position in the royal household. He was elected Member of Parliament for Westbury in 1559, likely through his family connection to the Blounts. However he was primarily a local official. By 1559 he was a Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire and escheator for Berkshire and Oxfordshire. From September 1559 to February 1565 he was receiver-general for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and also later served as a commissioner for sewers in Buckinghamshire, and commissioner of musters in Oxfordshire. It has been conjectured from the language of his will that he shared the Puritan sympathies of his brother, George. He made his last will on 18 December 1575, and died 18 January 1576. The will was proved the following June. In it he appointed his widow, Joyce, as his sole executrix, with Thomas Wilson and Edward Denton as overseers. He left legacies of £20 to the poor and marriage portions of £200 apiece to his four younger daughters. The Queen later intervened in the administration of Carleton's estate on behalf of his 'poor widow' in connection with some land in Brightwell Baldwin. Joyce Carleton was still living in 1606, when she was mentioned in a letter from John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton. He was buried in the parish church of St Bartholomew at Brightwell Baldwin, where a monument to him and to his first wife, Anne, names his son, John, and daughter, Joyce, by his first marriage.
Marriages and issue
He married firstly Anne Peryent, daughter and coheir of Thomas Peryent of Digswell, Hertfordshire, by whom he had a son and two daughters:
John Carleton, who died without issue.
Elizabeth Carleton, who married Anthony Berners of Thoby, Essex.
Joyce Carleton, who according to one source married a husband surnamed Plumsted; however according to McClure she married Edward Denton.
He married secondly Joyce Goodwin, widow of Robert Saunders of Flore, Northamptonshire, and daughter of Sir John Goodwin of Winchendon, Buckinghamshire, by whom he had two sons and four daughters:
George Carleton of Huntercombe, Oxfordshire, eldest son and heir, who married firstly Elizabeth Brockett, daughter and heir to Sir John Brocket, and secondly Katherine Harrison, widow of Thomas Spyer of Huntercombe, and daughter of Thomas Harrison of East Court by his second wife, Katherine Chamberlaine.
Alice Carleton, who was a close friend of John Chamberlain, who left her substantial bequests in his will, and may have intended to marry her. She accompanied her brother, Sir Dudley Carleton, to Venice while he was ambassador there.
