Thomas Craig was born about 1538. It is probable that he was the eldest son of William Craig of Craigfintray, or Craigston, in Aberdeenshire, but beyond the fact that he was in some way related to the Craigfintray family nothing regarding his birth is known with certainty.
Education
Thomas Craig was educated at St Andrews, where he took a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1555.
Career
From St Andrews Thomas Craig went to France, to study the canon and the civfl law. In 1564 he was appointed justice-depute by the justice-general, Archibald, earl of Argyll; and in this capacity he presided at many of the criminal trials of the period.
In 1573 Thomas Craig was appointed sheriff-depute of Edinburgh, and in 1606 procurator for the church.
It is said that he refused the honour of knighthood which the king wished to confer on him in 1604, when he came to London as one of the Scottish commissioners regarding the union between the kingdoms-the only political object he seems to have cared about; but in accordance with James's commands he has always been styled and reputed a knight. Except his poems, the only one of Craig's works which appeared during his lifetime was his Jus feudale. Other works were De unione regnorum Britanniae tractatus, De jure successionisregni Angliae and De hominio dispulalio. Translations of the last two have been published, and in 1910 an edition of the De Unione appeared, with translation and notes by C. S. Terry. Most of his poems have been reprinted in the Delitiae poetarum Scotorum. See P. F. Tytler, Life of Craig (1823); Life prefixed to Baillie's edition of the Jus feudale.
Connections
Craig was married to Helen, daughter of Heriot of Lumphoy in Midlothian, by whom he had four sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Sir Lewis Craig (1569 - 1622), was raised to the bench in 1604, and among his other descendants are several well-known namesin the list of Scottish lawyers.