His father, a shipwright, had moved to Newcastle to find work, but died less than a year after Thomas was born and the family returned to their hometown of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

They later moved back to Newcastle and Catto won a scholarship to Heaton School (later Rutherford College of Technology).

In 1898 he became secretary to William Horwood Stuart, managing partner of F. A. Mattievich & Co, based in Batumi and Baku, Russia.

In April 1940 he was appointed Director-General of Equipment and Stores at the Ministry of Supply and a Director of the Bank of England.

For his services in the First World War, Catto was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918[1] and created a baronet in the 1921 Birthday Honours.