[ABOVE] The reverse of a carte-de-visite produced by William A. Thomas at 45 George Street, Hastings (c1902).

William Arthur Thomas probably served his apprenticeship as a photographer under his father John Wesley Thomas and we can assume that he assisted his father at his studio at 45 George Street, Hastings until John Thomas retired from the business around 1900, when he was in his late sixties. At the age of twenty-one, William Arthur Thomas was a founder member of the Hastings & St Leonards Photographic Society which held its inaugural meeting at the School of Art, Claremont, Hastings on 22nd October 1888.

When the 1891 census was taken on 5th April 1891, William Arthur Thomas was residing at 45a George Street, the living quarters attached to the photographic studio at No. 45. William A. Thomas, an unmarried man of twenty-four, is entered as a "Photographer" on the census return. William Thomas shared his home with Ellen Thomas (born c1848, Hastings), an unmarried cousin who served as his housekeeper.

Towards the end of 1891, William Arthur Thomas married Agnes Shoesmith (born 1869, Hastings), a daughter of Ann and John Shoesmith, a furniture broker with business premises in High Street, Hastings. In 1894, the couple became the parents of a boy named Arthur Wesley Thomas [ Arthur's birth was registered in Hastings during the second quarter of 1894].

After his father retired from the photography business around 1900, William took over the photographic studio at 45 George Street, Hastings. From 1900, the studio carried the name of "William A.Thomas". When the 1901 census was taken, William and Agnes Thomas and their six year old son, Arthur, are recorded at 45 George Street, Hastings. Interestingly, William A. Thomas is described on the census return as a "Photographer (Professor)", aged 34, working "at home" on his "own account" (i.e. self employed).

The studio of William A. Thomas at 45 George Street, Hastings was still in business in1918.