Sir William Hutt was born in Lambeth, Surrey in 1791. He was educated privately at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and Camberwell. He graduated BA (1827) and MA (1831) from Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 1831 he married Mary Milner. She died in 1860, and the following year he married again.

Hutt entered Parliament as MP for Hull in 1832, a title he held until 1841. He then successfully stood as MP for Gateshead, a seat which he retained for over 30 years.

Hutt was a member of the select committee on colonial lands in 1836, and a commissioner for the foundation of South Australia. He was heavily involved in the colonisation of New Zealand, being a member of the New Zealand Association and of the select committee on New Zealand in 1840. Hutt helped form the New Zealand Company, of which he was later a director and chairman.

In 1859 he became vice-president of the Board of Trade, and was made a KCB in 1865. He died on 24 November, 1882.

He is commemorated in the name of the Hutt River in the North Island of New Zealand and the two cities of Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt which stand on its banks.