 In 1746, after his uncle had died, he taught himself bookbinding, and three years later opened a shop in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.This was not successful and he moved to Birmingham in 1750 and opened a small bookshop.Hutton married Sarah Cock from Aston-on-Trent in 1755 and they had three sons and a daughter, Catherine Hutton (1756–1846), who became a writer.