From a young age, John Lipton Lochhead displayed a remarkable skill and discipline at documenting maritime events. His interest in the nautical stemmed from growing up in Winthrop, Massachusetts, across the street from a family that often entertained Cunard and Leyland Line captains. Starting from age 6-7, Lochhead began creating scrapbooks that initially contained clippings about naval affairs in the First World War, and then later contained clippings and notes related to general maritime events. He would continue creating such scrapbooks throughout his life, eventually producing over 200 that spanned from 1916 up until 1990, within a year of his death.

Lochhead graduated from Winthrop High School in 1926. During the 1930s, he worked as a purser on various ships of the Eastern Steamship Lines. When World War Two broke out, Lochhead enlisted in the Navy and served as a chief yeoman for four years, taking part in the North African and Sicilian invasions. True to form, he created a scrapbook documenting his experience aboard the naval vessels on which he served.

Upon discharge, Lochhead became the head librarian at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA, where he continued researching and collecting information on maritime topics. In addition to compiling and publishing several bibliographies and indices on such topics, Lochhead also meticulously indexed his own scrapbooks. His passion for the maritime did not stop with the written word - Lochhead was also an avid marine photographer who accumulated over 10,000 negatives of images of ships. If that weren't enough, the Mariners' Museum librarian also served as the regional editor for the SSHSA's quarterly publication, "Steamboat Bill," covering the Chesapeake Bay region. At some point, Lochhead also obtained an M.A. from Harvard and studied library science at Columbia University.

Lochhead retired in 1976 after thirty years at the Mariners' Museum. He returned to his native Winthrop, and spent much of his retirement traveling to locales such as South America, Newfoundland, Scotland, England, and Norway, which he visited at least nine times. These trips were, of course, all documented in his scrapbooks. He also was involved with the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, a group dedicated to recording the history of the islands and advocating for their preservation. Lochhead passed away at the age of 81 in 1991.