He was born on 27 September 1869 in Wellington Street in Leith (the harbour area of Edinburgh) the fourth son of William John Stockman (d. 1908), a flour importer, and his wife.
[4] After seven years at the college he left Scotland in 1899 to serve in the Second Boer War[5] At the end of the war in 1902 he went to work in India then moved in 1903 to work as Chief Veterinary Officer to the Transvaal, concentrating on diseases of cattle and tropical diseases in general.
In 1905 he obtained the highly prestigious position as Chief Veterinary Officer to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
His main claim to fame during his term of office was in the elimination of glanders from Great Britain and in the creation of the Tuberculosis Order of 1925 which eliminated the risk of tuberculosis in cattle spreading to humans through the consumption of milk.
[4] He was knighted on 1 January 1913 by King George V for veterinary services to the United Kingdom.