Lockhart was born at the Manse in
Inchinnan,
Renfrewshire,
Scotland, where his father Dr Laurence Lockhart, DD (1795–1876) was the minister. Lockhart's uncle was
John Gibson Lockhart, eminent writer, poet and biographer of
Sir Walter Scott. His mother Louisa Blair (died 1847) was a daughter of David Blair, a manufacturer in Glasgow. There were two older brothers who both also saw military service, Major-General David Blair Lockhart of Milton Lockhart (1829–1906) and Lieutenant-Colonel Laurence William Maxwell Lockhart (1831–1882). He entered the
Indian Army in 1858, in the 44th Bengal Native Infantry. He served in the last months of the
Indian Mutiny, the
Bhutan Campaign (1864–66), under Napier in the
Abyssinian Expedition (1867–68; mentioned in dispatches) and after promotion to
captain in 1868 took part in the Hazara Black Mountain Expedition (1868–69; mentioned in dispatches). From 1869 to 1879 he acted as Deputy Assistant and Assistant Quartermaster General in
Bengal. In 1877 he was promoted to
major and was military
attaché with the Dutch Army in
Acheen (modern Aceh). Here he saw active service, almost died from fever, and received the Dutch
Expedition Cross. He was Road Commandant of the
Khyber Pass and served in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878–80, for which he was mentioned in dispatches and made a Companion of the
Order of the Bath (CB). From 1880 to 1885 he was Deputy Quartermaster-General in the Intelligence Branch at headquarters, during which he was promoted to
colonel in 1883. Between 1885 and 1886 he headed the
Lockhart Mission surveying the
Hindu Kush. He commanded a brigade in the
Third Burmese War (1886–87), and was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and a Companion of the
Order of the Star of India (CSI) and received the thanks of the government. and for five years was engaged in various expeditions against the hill tribes. After the
Waziristan Campaign in 1894–95 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI). He became a full
general in 1896, and in 1897 he was given the command against the
Afridis and
Mohmands, and conducted the difficult
Tirah Expedition with great skill. A narrow steep path it was defended by thousands of Afridis. ==Death==