Thomas Wingate was born on 9 March 1807 in Verdun, France, where his father, the naval lieutenant George Thomas Wingate, was held as a prisoner of war from 1806 until 1813 or 1814. He was christened with his four siblings in Stirling, Scotland, in 1815, following their father's release.

Wingate purchased an ensigncy in the British Army on 13 May 1826 and served in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] with the 7th Regiment of Foot (Ross-shire Buffs) between 1828 and 1832. He became a lieutenant in 1830. In early 1833, Wingate had returned to Stirling and transferred to the 2nd Regiment of Foot (Queens Royal) later that year.

Wingate served in India from 1835. He was a gifted artist as illustrated by a panorama of Bombay executed about 1837 and a series of lithographs reflecting his participation in the Ghuznee campaign of 1839. He left India in 1842 upon the grounds of ill-health and returned to Scotland. In 1846, Wingate was promoted captain and retired from the army. In 1852, he travelled to Australia, where he served with the New South Wales Volunteer Rifles. He married Eleanor Terry in 1857 and they lived at Potts Point, Sydney.