Early in his life, the family moved to Wellington where his father found work as a supervisor in the Hannah and Company's boot factory.
He married Florence Elizabeth Hurlstone in 1904, had two children: Eric Haslam and Gladys Hayman (née Haslam), and worked as a Methodist church minister stationed in many areas of New Zealand (including Christchurch, Temuka, Whanganui, Canterbury, Bunnythorpe (1913–17), Palmerston North, Invercargill, Waimate (1926-1929), Nelson, Auckland, Hamilton, Otago and Wellington) rising to distinction in the Methodist Church as Secretary and later President of Conference.
[3] He enjoyed other sports such as tennis and continued to play at cricket matches organised by delegates to Methodist conferences.
He became a member of the Wesleyan Literary and Debating Society in the early-mid 1890s, did acting for them, and edited their journal, which also printed some of his early poems.
Other topics include war and literature, and his book contains a section of lighter verse possibly written in his younger years.
The British Library has made available his sole collection, Scenes in Southland, as a download on Apple iTunes.
In 2012, New Zealand poet, critic and editor, Mark Pirie wrote on Haslam's cricket sonnet ‘Ambition’ (which discusses Sir Jack Hobbs) for the Tingling Catch weblog.