lockhart was born in liverpool and received medical training at meath hospital in dublin and guy's hospital in london. in 1834, he became a member of the royal college of surgeons of england and later of the london missionary society (lms). with the lms, in 1838 he travelled to canton, and then to macau and shanghai, where he stayed intermittently from 1842 to 1863; in macau and shanghai he opened hospitals. in 1857, he became fellow of the royal college of surgeons, in 1864 director of the lms and in 1878 director of the medical missionary association. in 1861, lockhart published a book titled "the medical missionary in china: a narrative of twenty years' experience", where among other things he insisted that one should not serve both as a preacher and a physician. the papers of william lockhart are held by soas archives.