Thomas Thomson was a record scholar and advocate. Born in November 1768 at the manse in Dailly, Ayrshire, Thomson was educated at the parish school and matriculated at Glasgow University, aged 14. He built a solid practice at the bar, with his strength lying in written pleadings, but financial problems beset him. In 1806 he was appointed to the newly created office of Deputy Clerk register. After the record commissioners suspended payments for the sasine abridgements in 1831, he continued to employ 12 clerks at his own expense rather than lose their experienced skill, obtaining loans of £4,000. After investigation by the Exchequer, the conclusion was that £8,570 was owing to the crown, but Thomson avoided prosecution by convincing the government that the money had been applied to record work and not for private use.