Mudie was born at Chesterfield in Derbyshire where he married Mercy Anne Caterer (1831 – 25 August 1908) shortly before leaving for South Australia on the Coromandel, the couple arriving at Port Adelaide on 8 January 1855.
She was a learned and accomplished woman, had been secretary to Elihu Burritt for some years, and worked closely with Thomas in teaching and school management.
Around 1860 he was approached by Bishop Short, (who was seeking a likely candidate for the clergy), with the result that in 1865 he was ordained as deacon, then in 1868 priest of St Saviour's Church, Glen Osmond, where he was to remain until retiring in 1897 due to ill-health.
[7] From 1876 to 1883, when he moved, he conducted classes at "Woodside House", a 15-room home on 20 acres (8.1 ha) irrigated on Fullarton Road, Upper Mitcham.
Remarkable for a man of his abilities was his lack of ambition – he never sought higher office and served in the same diocese for over thirty years.