He was educated at Wesley College, Dublin and later followed his uncle, Sir Robert Hart, into the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service in 1891 and was appointed in 1899 as acting audit secretary at the inspectorate-general in Beijing.

The KMT, in the process of deposing the internationally recognised Beiyang warlords in Beijing, offered Maze the position of 'Inspector-General' in the south three times in 1927, but he refused.

[1] Feeling a lack of support, particularly from the new KMT government in Nanjing from 1928, Edwardes resigned from the Customs Service on 31 December 1928 and Maze was chosen to be the new Inspector-General.

[1] For the coronation Maze commissioned Ede and Ravenscroft to make his Chinese Diplomatic uniform, consisting of a long coat embroidered with corn sheaves in gold with gilt buttons engraved with the letters RC ("Republique Chinoise") in the centre surrounded by the Chinese motif symbolising five blessings, a black ostrich feather bicorne hat cocked with the colours of the KMT, and a gold and pearl-hilt court sword (On Maze's retirement he donated his uniform to the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich).

[8][9][10] In February 1938 Maze was awarded the Grand Blue Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Jade by the president Lin Sen "In recognition of valuable services rendered by him in the employment of the Chinese Government".

Maze also assembled a collection of scale models of Chinese junks and sampans, built in Hong Kong and Shanghai under expert supervision.

Maze however, his administration safe within the jurisdiction of the Shanghai International Settlement, elected to remain in Shanghai but later complained that "The Chungking government (1,600 miles away) nevertheless continue to expect (at any rate on paper) the Inspector General to execute their mandates and uphold their authority in all the occupied regions, without a vestige of their protection!

Meanwhile, the Mazes had their house seized by the Japanese, and were forced to live in a small flat for which they had to pay a rental of £14 a month, which came out of the £20 they were allowed to draw from their bank account.

By March 1942, in line with increasing Japanese control over the foreign population in Shanghai, Maze was arrested on a charge of espionage.

"[14] Maze was one of approximately 200 Britons and Americans held captive at the infamous 'Bridgehouse' Kenpeitai Prison in Shanghai but was later released in May 1942, and he and his wife were repatriated with other members of the Diplomatic Corps (including the British Consul in Shanghai Anthony Hastings George) in June 1942 on board the Kamakura Maru to Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa.

[13] On arriving in Lourenço Marques however Maze acted to return to Chongqing to resume office as Inspector-General and in an effort to help his staff still imprisoned there.

[7] After returning from China Maze lived with his wife in Cape Town, South Africa, except for a trip to Sydney in 1946 to visit Lady Maze's family (Her sister Ursula Mary Bullmore was a fashion editor of The Australian Women's Weekly and married Anthony Hordern of the prominent trading family).