Thomas Walter Wilson studied at the National Art Training School in London and was a painter of landscapes, marine and architectural subjects, working in France, Belgium and Holland. During the 1870s he exhibited at the Society of British Artists and the Institute of Painters in Water Colours, of which he was elected a member in 1879. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy. He also worked as a black-and-white illustrator for a number of journals including The Graphic and The Illustrated London News.