at the age of 17. He performed quite well and had been given the Huttonian prize, the highest award at the college, by the end of his fourth year. George Simpson offered Thomas a position in the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1826, which he declined in order to complete his studies.

Simpson graduated in 1828, at the age of 20, with a Master of Arts degree. He enrolled in a divinity class that winter with the goal of becoming a clergyman