Frederick Thomas Tooke was born in 1874 and went on to study at McGill University, where he graduated in Arts in 1895 and a degree in Medicine (M.D., C.M.) in 1899. He began his career as a house surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1900 and was in charge of the pathology work. He travelled to Europe to study ophthalmology and served as a clinical assistant to multiple professors. In 1905, he returned to Montreal, opened an ophthalmology practice, and became part of the ophthalmology staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was appointed second Assistant Ophthalmologist in 1910. In 1917, he worked with the victims of the Halifax Explosion, many of whom sustained eye injuries. He invented the corneal splitter.

In addition to his work at the hospital, Tooke concurrently served as Professor and Chairman of the Department at McGill University from 1935 or 1937 to 1939. During this time, he also held the position of Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at the Royal Victoria Hospital from 1934-1939 or 1935-1940. In 1939, he was elected as the President of the American Ophthalmological Society. Tooke retired from his practice in 1950.