As a result of her father's job the family moved often and lived in Auckland, Christchurch, Hokitika and Invercargill.

Haszard was a pupil of artist Hugh Scott in Hokitika in 1910, and attended Southland Girls' High School.

[2] At the age of 18, Haszard enrolled at the Canterbury College School of Art, now the Ilam School of Fine Arts, joining a set of women artists that included Ngaio Marsh, Evelyn Page (née Polson), Rata Lovell-Smith (née Bird) and Olivia Spencer Bower.

She dressed eccentrically, spoke positively of de facto relationships and advocated vegetarianism and unprocessed food.

In 1928 Haszard had a serious accident that left her with a back injury and she returned to London to seek medical treatment in 1929 and 1930.