[1] He was born in London, England, June 10, 1832, and by the time he was fifteen had signed on with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

Here stayed there for the duration of his time in the HBC, serving the company as a clerk for 22 years and eventually becoming proprietor of Fort Nisqually from 1859 to 1869.

[5] After political service, he served on the board of the Washington State Historical Society and was vice president of the National Bank of Commerce of Tacoma.

[6] He joined the company in 1849 as a settler bound for Vancouver Island and sailed for America in October of that year aboard the Norman Morrison.

[5][7] The settlement venture was abandoned when he arrived and Governor, Sir James Douglas sent him to Fort Nisqually where he would serve in the capacity of a clerk.

[10] Throughout the 1850s one of Huggins main tasks was serving notices to American squatters who had settled on land belonging to the PSAC.

Already an American citizen and upset that the company had not given him a promotion his entire time working for them, he retired and claimed the land the fort stood on.

Throughout his time in political office and after, Huggins played a major role in telling the history of the earliest settlers of Fort Nisqually, and the Washington Territory.