Thomas Gordon Wishart was born on 9 December 1895 at 48 Wellgate, Dundee. He was the third son of David Wishart, a local jute weaver, and his wife, Mary Gordon. In 1901 he was living with his family at 18 Dens Road and by 1911 was working alongside his father and brothers in the jute mill.

During 1912 Thomas enlisted with the Royal Scots Fusiliers and was based in Gibraltar with the 2nd Battalion at the start of the First World War. The battalion returned to England in September 1914 before embarking for Zeebrugge on 6 October as part of the 21st Brigade, 7th Division. They had been tasked with providing relief to Antwerp, however; Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson found the port doomed, so the 7th retired westward to meet the main bulk of the British Army, who were heading north from the Aisne. On 15 October the Fusiliers took up a position east of Ypres and were involved in the subsequent battle where they lost heavily, with many men taken prisoner. Regrettably Thomas’s service papers have not survived; however, a newspaper article published the following spring reported that his father had heard nothing from his son since the start of October, and it seems probable Thomas was among those captured in the battle. Thomas was incarcerated in Gustrow camp in Germany and remained a POW for the duration of the war.

After the war, Thomas married Isabella Smith McCormack on 22 April 1927 with two sons born of the union. He died on 4 December 1941 in the Dundee Royal Infirmary of coronary thrombosis. He had been living at 13 South Ellen Street and working as a general labourer at the time.

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