Robert Howard Hutton (1840–1887), bonesetter, was born at Soulby, near Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland, on 26 July 1840. He was the son of Robert Hutton. He was a member of a family of farmers who for two hundred years had resided in the north of England. The family were bonesetters for the benefit of their neighbours. Robert's uncle, Richard Hutton, was the first of the family to make bonesetting his profession. He set up in practice in London at Wyndham Place, Crawford Street, London, and died at Gilling Lodge, Watford, on 6 January 1871, aged 70. Among the well-authenticated cases of cures by the elder Hutton were those of the Hon. Spencer Ponsonby on 27 June 1865, and of George Moore, the philanthropist, in March 1869.