Career
He was an alumnus of Sir John Deane"s College in Northwich, Cheshire, United Kingdom and was for many years Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. Haslam proposed a first comprehensive definition of plant polyphenols based on the earlier proposals of Bate-Smith, Swain and White, which includes specific structural characteristics common to all phenolics having a tanning property. lieutenant is referred to as the White–Bate-Smith–Swain–Haslam (WBSSH) definition.