Thomas Burns was a Launceston educator, historian and field naturalist. He was the co-editor, with Rowland Skemp, of Van Diemen's Land Correspondents (Launceston, QVMAG, 1961).;;Burns was a Life Member of the Launceston Field Naturalist Club and in 1983 was invested with the Order of Australia Medal (General Division) for Community Service.;;Other collections from Thomas Burns reside in the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Tasmania and the St Helen's History Room.