Scott Thomas was born in Nether Compton, Dorset. Her mother, Deborah (née Hurlbatt), was brought up in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying her father, Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas, a pilot in the Royal Navy who died in a flying accident in 1964. She is the younger sister of Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, the niece of Admiral Sir Richard Thomas (who was Black Rod in the House of Lords), and a great-great-niece of Captain Scott, the ill-fated Explorer who lost the race to the South Pole. Her surname is an amalgam of the Surnames of those two families. The Scott Thomases also trace their lineage to Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, the owner of the famous Arabian horse Godolphin Barb.