Frederick William Haultain was born on November 7, 1821, in Brussels, Belgium.

He was a British Army officer and political figure in the Province of Canada. He lived in Belgium while his father Major General Francis Haultain (1789-1855) was stationed there. He eventually returned to Britain and studied at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, England (1837). He served with the Royal Artillery and retired as Lieutenant-Colonel in 1860. He moved to Canada and settled in Peterborough later that year. He was elected to the 7th Parliament of the Province of Canada representing Peterborough in 1861 as a Conservative. In 1864, as a member of the Reform Party, he was elected to the same seat in a by-election for the 8th Parliament of the Province of Canada. Haultain later moved to Montreal to work with missionaries before returning with his family to Peterborough. His son, Frederick William Aplin Gordon Haultain (1857-1942), served as Conservative premier of the Northwest Territories and played an important role in establishing the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In 1850, he married Lucinda Helen Gordon (1828–1915). He died on December 9, 1882, in Peterborough, Ontario.