He was born in North Adelaide, the son of Henry Dutton, the "Squire of Anlaby" (1844 – 26 August 1914), and studied at Saint Peter"s College, Lancing College, Essex, and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he rowed against Cambridge and graduated Master of Arts.
He inherited the pastoral property "Anlaby", near Kapunda in 1914 from his father. He was a keen motorist and in November 1907 attempted the trip to Darwin with noted cyclist-mechanic Murray Aunger (1878–1953) in a 20–24 horse power Talbot, but was forced to abandon the car in Tennant Creek.
Dutton, Aunger and a third member, Ernest Allchurch (c1870–1932), left Adelaide on 30 June 1908 in a similar vehicle, and completed the journey on 20 August, having recovered the first Talbot on the way.
The car and its steel-studded Michelin tyres were reported as having performed flawlessly. John Hansborough Dutton (23 August 1906 – )
Richard Hampden Dutton (6 August 1909 – ) married Margaret Elizabeth Newland on 25 February 1933
Bryony Helen Carola Dutton (22 October 1918 – 2005) was engaged to William Weatherly (Flying Officer with 459 Squadron and later awarded Distinguished Flying Cross) in 1940 but married American soldier William Robert Curkeet on 24 August 1942.
They had two children:
Charlotte Blackburn, later Calder
Tom Blackburn South Carolina
Geoffrey Piers Henry Dutton (2 August 1922 – 17 September 1998), a noted writer
