Born in Brittany, France. Fortescue Francis Croft Huddleston at a very young age traveled to New Zealand with his family. He attended Nelson College 1863-64, was appointed Drawing Master 1898-1918 and was a member of the Bishopdale Sketching Club, later known as Nelson Suter Art Society. He was a keen naturalist and amassed a wide variety of interests in that field including taming kea.

He has been credited with choosing the site and building the first Hermitage at Mount Cook in 1883.

At some point he was a resident of Gisborne and is referred to as a local artist in Feb 1900. Huddleston died at Nelson 22 Oct. 1922. The Tairawhiti Museum holds three works by Huddleston in the Fine Arts collection.

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  FCC Huddleston, Cook's Landing at the mouth of the Turanganui River, 55/1134