Quarter-Master Sergeant Thomas Gibson was born in the Parish of Lochmaben, near Dumfries and attested for the Royal Artillery in January 1824, aged 19 years. A tall man for his day, standing at nearly six foot, he enjoyed steady promotion throughout the 1820s and 1830s until attaining the rank of Colour-Sergeant in September 1839. During this period Gibson served on Gibraltar for nine years and on Corfu for another six. Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in June 1854, he was advanced to Quarter-Master Sergeant in the same year and discharged at Plymouth in September 1862.