 He defended William Cuffay the chartist in 1848, and secured the acquittal of Mercy Catherine Newton, on her third trial for matricide, in 1859.He became a QC in 1857 and a bencher of Gray's Inn, being Treasurer in 1859 and 1868.Huddleston made several unsuccessful attempts to enter politics, ultimately being elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Canterbury in 1865.