A career military officer, an antiquarian, and a teacher of swordsmanship, Captain Hutton was at the forefront of the movement to revive the art of the sword in Victorian England.

Captain Hutton published several excellent publications of historical swordsmanship:

• Cold Steel (1889) – A book that instructs in the use of the sabre, duelling sword, bayonet, great stick, truncheon and dagger.
• Old Sword Play (1892) – Captain Hutton's key contribution to historical fencing, a publication that presented (with many fine plates) the sword-techniques of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

An officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, Captain Hutton travelled widely, lecturing and giving fencing instructions throughout Britain. Upon his death in 1910, his unrivalled library was bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum.