Life

By 1760 he was established as a solicitor in Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

. He was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 15 February 1781, and communicated in November 1788 an 'Account of Antiquities in Lancashire' (Archæologia, ix. 211-18). Hutchinson died on 7 April 1814, having survived his wife only two or three days. He left three daughters and a son.

Works

In all his undertakings Hutchinson received assistance from George Allan

George Allan (antiquary)

George Allan was an English antiquary and attorney at Darlington.Allan spent much of his youth in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where he was educated at the all-boys Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield....

. In 1785 he published the first volume of his History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, Newcastle, founded on Allan's manuscript collections; the second volume appeared in 1787, and the third in 1794. His work was carried on while he was prosecuting a lawsuit with the publisher; being unable to find purchaser.' for the thousand copies which he printed, he disposed of four hundred to John Nichols

John Nichols (printer)

John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...

. Another revised edition was issued at Durham in 1823 in 3 vols.
Hutchinson's other topographical works are:

• 'An Excursion to the Lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland, August 1773' [anon.], 1774.
• 'An Excursion to the Lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland, with a Tour through part of the Northern Counties in 1773 and 1774,' 8vo, London, 1776.
• 'A View of Northumberland, with an Excursion to the Abbey of Mailross in Scotland,' 2 vols.
• Newcastle, 1776-8.
• 'The History of the County of Cumberland, and some places adjacent' 2 vols. Carlisle, 1794.

He also edited anonymously Thomas Randal's 'State of the Churches under the Archdeaconry of Northumberland, and in Hexham Peculiar Jurisdiction' (1779?).

In 1788 he composed a tragedy called 'Pygmalion, King of Tyre,' and soon afterwards another named 'The Tyrant of Orixa.' Both plays were submitted to Thomas Harris, the manager of Covent Garden, but neither was acted or printed. A third play written by him, entitled' The Princess of Zanfara,' after being rejected by Harris, was printed anonymously in 1792, and frequently performed at provincial theatres.

His other writings are:

• 'The Hermitage; a British Story,' 1772.
• 'The Doubtful Marriage; a Narrative drawn from Characters in Real Life,' 3 vols. 1775 (another edit., 1792).
• 'The Spirit of Masonry, in Moral and Elucidatory Lectures,' 8vo, London, 1775 (other edits., 1796, 1802, and 1843, with notes by G. Oliver).
• 'A Week in a Cottage; a Pastoral Tale,' 1776.
• A 'Romance' after the manner of the 'Castle of Otranto.'
• 'An Oration at the Dedication of Free Mason's Hall in Sunderland on the 16th July 1778.'

In 1776 he edited a volume of 'Poetical Remains' by his brother Robert, who had died in November 1773. It was printed at George Allan's private press at Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, which also put out many of Hutchinson's 'Addresses' to his subscribers.

He left in manuscript 'The Pilgrim of the Valley of Hecass; a Tale,' and a volume of Letters addressed to the Minister, 1798, by, Freeholder North of Trent.' He had also prepared a copy of his 'History of Durham,' corrected for a second edition, and a 'Poetical Sketch' of his own life.