Clouston was the youngest of four sons of Robert Clouston (1786–1857) 3rd of Nisthouse, in the
Birsay parish of
Orkney, and his wife Janet (née Smith). The Cloustons descend from Havard Gunnason (fl. 1090), Chief Counsellor to Haakon,
Earl of Orkney, and later became landed gentry taking their name from their estate, Clouston. Clouston was educated at
Aberdeen Grammar School and the
University of Edinburgh. In 1875 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposers were Sir
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister,
John Hutton Balfour, Sir William Turner and
Alexander Crum Brown. In 1881 he was elected a member of the
Aesculapian Club. In 1894 he opened the
Craig House extension to the Royal Edinburgh asylum on Easter
Craiglockhart Hill, which was renamed the Thomas Clouston Clinic in 1972. The buildings later became part of
Napier University. He Received the
Freedom of the Burgh of
Kirkwall on 28 August 1908. At the end of his life Clouston lived at 26 Heriot Row, an elegant and substantial Georgian townhouse in
Edinburgh's New Town. He died in Edinburgh on 19 April 1915. He is buried in
Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh with his wife Dame Harriet Secur Storer (1835–1917). The grave lies on the obscured southern terrace. His daughter, Augusta Maud Clouston CBE (1871–1960) lies to the side, with her husband
Sir David Wallace (1862–1952). ==Artistic recognition==