Thomas was a grain merchant and grocer who took over his father’s business in the High Street. He was provost from 1908 to 1919 and controversially supported the cancellation of the Common Riding in 1915. He had not wanted to be re-appointed provost in November 1914 but was persuaded to stay on while international hostilities continued.

He was born in Langholm as one of eight siblings, three of whom died in infancy and one aged six. His sister Janet moved to Pennsylvania, USA, and died at age 35. His wife Joanna Armstrong, from Midlothian, died in 1907 at age 45 while on a visit to Stirlingshire.

Thomas and Joanna had one child, William, who was an accountant in Glasgow when he joined the Army Service Corps. He was injured by shellfire as a dispatch rider and had to have his arm amputated. He died in a Calais hospital on 22nd January 1916, 12 days after being wounded, aged 24, and is buried in Calais Southern Cemetery.