Thomas Russell Park was born in Penang in 1908, educated at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1935. After working at an accountancy firm in Edinburgh he was employed at Ariston Gold Mines Ltd, Prestea, Gold Coast [Ghana], from 1939 to 1942.

In September 1940 Park married Eleanor Mary Sharp (1912-1980), known as Nell, of Sydney, Australia. They left Prestea in September 1942 and for the remainder of the war Park worked for the American Red Cross, South-West Pacific Area, in Sydney, Australia. He subsequently worked for Messrs William Thomson and Company, managers of Ben Line Steamers Ltd, from 1946 to 1968, becoming Chief Accountant. He retired to Elterwater, Cumbria, and died in 1986.