Mr. James Hazlett , who has long been a member of the Dunedin Benvolent Society, and is well known in commercial circles in connection with the old established firm of Mackerras and Hazlett, was born in 1829 page 150 at Maghara, Londonderry, Ireland. He was educated partly in his native place, and at Belfast, and gained experience in mercantile life before sailling for the Colonies, in 1854. On arriving in Melbourne, Mr. Hazlett went to the Victorian diggings, and stayed for some time in Gippsland, where he was fairly prosperous. He crossed the Tasman Sea to Otago in 1861, and for a few years was mining on New Zealand goldfields. About 1863, Mr. Hazlett commenced business at the Dunstan, and afterwards at Cromwell, having branch stores in other parts of the diggings, including Clyde. He conducted a large business till 1878, when he came to Dunedin and joined Mr. Mackerras in Bond Street. During his residence in Clyde district for some time before the abolition of the provinces, and was president of the Dunedin Hospital for a number of years. Mr. Hazlett has been assiduous as a trustee of the Dunedin Benevolent Institution, and latterly he has been a member of the Charitable Aid Board. He takes considerable interest in horse racing, and has been a member of the Dunedin Jockey Club for about twenty-five years, and was sometime its president. Mr. Hazlett has at different times owned race horses. He is an unattached member of the Masonic Order. He was married in 1867 to a daughter of Mr. Thomas Coleman, and has five sons and three daughters.