Background
Field was born in Wanganui in 1852, the son of Henry Claylands Field (1825–1912) and his wife Margaret Symes Purlow.
Field was born in Wanganui in 1852, the son of Henry Claylands Field (1825–1912) and his wife Margaret Symes Purlow.
By profession a surveyor, he retired in his late 20s due to rheumatism and became a farmer. His father was a civil engineer from Holybourne, Hampshire, England, who had come to Wanganui in the early 1850s. H. A. Field received a private education at Wanganui.
He became a survey cadet in 1868 and qualified in 1872.
He retired from surveying in 1878 as he suffered from rheumatism and moved to Waikanae, where he was farming. On 28 October 1879 at Waikanae, Field married Hannah Erskine, the daughter of Thomas Wilson.
He was ill during the 1899 session and could not attend the parliamentary sittings on many occasions. Against medical advice, he contested the 1899 general election on 6 December, visibly ill at many of the meetings
He died two days after his re-election at his home in Waikanae.
Hannah Field died in September 1904.