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Dr. Kittredge had been in Europe to study the hydropathic system of medical care.  Jesse wrote to a Lynn paper that  "He has had a grand practical experience of the wet sheet, and will be able to sweat you to a charm.  -  I wish I could be there to take the first lesson.  Blessed be the name of cold water, and blessings attend the man who treats and cures diseases with it."

On the 31st, Jesse and Abby dined at the Dickens house.  In the evening they were joined by Judson, John, and Asa.  Among other celebrities, in addition to Charles and Catherine Dickens, they found themselves in the presence of playwright, humorist, and editor Douglas Jerrold; tragedian William Charles Macready; author Caroline Norton; and poet Samuel Rogers.  By request they sang  "The Bridge of Sighs"  and other selections.  "When dining with Mr. and Mrs. Dickens,"  said Abby,  "Charles Dickens sat at my right and Douglas Jerrold at my left.  As I took no wine with them[,] Mr. Dickens said[,] Well Jerrold after dinner we too will give up wine [-] until tomorrow."

The Hutchinsons kept busy visiting friends and sightseeing.  "We found that we had every kind of talent to contend with in London, from the street musicians to the finest operas; as this seemed to be the Mecca of all who were after fame, popularity and money.  We soon made up our minds it was no place for us to succeed, as it would take a longer time than we had at our disposal to create a sentiment in our favor."

They were not competing with only European musical talent.  "From one end of London to the other,"  wrote John Ross Dix,  "the walls are placarded with notices of amusements of all descriptions, furnished or purveyed by Mr. This, That, or The other, 'from America.'"

The experience was novel on February 10, even before the singers stepped onto the platform for their first London show.

He added,  "From where I sat I could count nine or ten individuals whose names are,  on both sides of the Atlantic,  as 'familiar as household words.'"

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On the left of the stage, the Hutchinson Family emerged one at a time from a small door.  Dix tells us that  "in point of personal appearance they are singularly unlike any party of vocalists who have stood on that platform before."   "We cannot hesitate for a moment in considering the tallest . . . to be a Yankee. . . .   The word is inscribed upon every line of his countenance, each straight particular hair avouches it; and the figure . . . is spare and wiry. . . .   It needs not a second glance to discover that he is the 'droll' of the party.  The merry twinkle in his eye informs us of that.  In his hand he carries a violin, rather a singular adjunct for a mere vocalist, for a music book is generally the sole companion of fashionable performers."

Dix said Abby's  "face is more than pretty, and extremely rich in expression; but there are no meretricious smiles  -  no rouged cheeks  -  nothing at all about her that in the least savors of affectation.  As the little Yankee girl stands, dressed in a plain, shot-silk gown, without a single ornament . . . many a nod of delighted approbation is exchanged among the fashionably attired audience.  It is, indeed, something new to them to behold one so utterly artless in so public a position. . . . "

Then came John,  "whose hair falls in rather wild profusion over his shoulders.  He has a pleasantly expressive countenance, but were his locks a little shorn, and his collar worn as such an article of dress generally is in England, he would more resemble a son of John Bull's than of Brother Jonathan's.  He is shorter in stature than his before mentioned relation, but still somewhat taller than the fourth of the party.  He also carries a violin."

Finally, we meet Asa.   "The other brother has a violoncello, and so nearly resembles in appearance the one last described, that it will be unnecessary for me to say more respecting him, than that he is the bass singer."

Brother Judson's comic songs took the crowd by storm, and Abby's singing of  "The May Queen"  enchanted the audience.  On this important occasion, wrote John, the Hutchinsons  "sang, we thought, as well as usual, and were well received by an intelligent audience of about five hundred."

That  evening,   "The  Old  Granite  State"   contained  this  verse:

John recorded that,  after the concert,  the group members congratulated themselves that they had made a hit.

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In the days that followed, the Hutchinsons checked London's newspapers for reviews of their performance, such as the notice by George Hogarth that ran in the Daily News.   "We lately . . . expressed our expectation that they would be favourably received by the public  -  an expectation which has been realised."   "[T]he serious subjects were agreeably intermixed with things of a lighter character, some of them very quaint and amusing.  Several of the graver pieces were deeply pathetic, and made a strong impression on the audience.  This was especially the case with Thomas Hood's two affecting poems, 'The Bridge of Sighs' and 'The Pauper's Funeral,' both of which, joined to music of the simplest kind, but full of character and expression, were delivered with such feeling that no one could listen to them unmoved."

Then Hogarth spoke of the instrumental performances.  "The lighter pieces were in general accompanied on two violins and a violoncello by the three brothers, who sang and played at the same time.  This had an awkward effect, and was no improvement to the music; in the first place, because the young men are no great performers, and, also, because any accompaniment was not only unnecessary but positively injurious."

It is often tempting to report what the Hutchinson Family thought, as if all its members were of one mind.  But each one was quite capable of forming his or her own opinions.  We know very little  -  if anything  -  about the reactions of Jesse, Judson, and Abby to the Hogarth notice.  We know John was bothered by the suggestion that they should throw away their fiddles, and he thought other notices were worse still.  The fullest account we have is of Brother Asa's reaction; and it shows that he was, indeed, very unhappy.  Speaking of George Hogarth, he said,  "I blame him for making public any little criticism which should have been made to us in private."

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"In what light the Hutchinson family are to be looked upon,"  said the Times,  "is exceedingly difficult to determine.  Whether they are looked upon as natural geniuses, self-taught prodigies, or the representatives of the amount of musical instruction derived from an American academy, we are not informed, and this makes all the difference in the opinion to be given on them."  This notice went on to discuss the group's instrumentation.

"As regards the execution, it is frequently effective from a certain rough earnestness and simplicity of intention, but almost as frequently the same qualities gave an absurd colouring to their performance. . . . "   The Times review ended by saying there was  "something really so curious and original"  in the quartet's performances that it could earn them a run of success.

"[W]e thought it the meanest notice we had ever had in any newspaper,"  said John.  He added that  "Judson said he wouldn't sing again, he was going home, and began to pack up his fiddle at once."  Evidently the remarks on their violining skills hit a nerve.

As hard as Asa took Hogarth's criticism, he took the Times notice worse.  But though in the morning he considered quitting England altogether, later that day he wrote,  "Now although dispirited I move we go on and give battle to the enemy."

The piece in the Morning Advertiser was full of praise for the Hutchinsons' vocal abilities.  "[T]hey sang several simple but beautiful quartettes, like our glee singers, without any instrumental assistance; and in these it was that they were the most powerful  -  and simply because from constant practice together, they sang with one voice, with one feeling, with one emphasis, with one and a unanimous marking of those lights and shades  -  those pianos and fortes  -  which alone can present one general whole  -  the very essence of part vocalism."

The quartet's second London concert was held on February 18.  John, for one, thought the notices that followed were much more favorable; but he recorded that the money taken in was not enough to pay expenses.

After the fourth concert in London, Jesse, Judson, and Asa wanted to return home, and they signed an agreement to leave in April; but John and Abby did not want to go so soon, and a decision was made to stay a bit longer.

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On March 6, the singers made their final appearance in London for the time.  "At this last concert,"  said John,  "we sang our new song on Oregon, singing verses alternately in the tunes of 'God Save the Queen' and 'Yankee Doodle.'  This seemed to delight the audience very much.  We had to stop at the end of each verse for the cheering to subside.  This was composed by George Thompson, Judson and Jesse."

The Hutchinsons' first stay in London was said to be unprofitable; but now they started on a tour of smaller cities and towns, where they became very popular.  They appeared three times at the Town Hall in Birmingham, on the 11th, 12th, and 13th.  Their respectability was such that a local newspaper reported,  "At these concerts we observed several parties who are known to entertain objections to musical entertainments."

The quartet was probably most popular, and had the greatest success, in the big manufacturing centers and the mill towns.  Cyrus M. Tracy of Lynn quoted his brother, Frederick Palmer Tracy, as saying that

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After a concert in Liverpool, the group made Manchester its headquarters.  Then they returned to London, arriving on March 28.  Two days later, they appeared at the Covent Garden Theatre as part of  "an annual complimentary concert to the talent of the kingdom."  Judson sang  "Away Down East,"  Abby was encored for  "The May Queen,"  and the group gave  "The Old Granite State."  Though the musicians who performed included Braham, Phillips, and Russell, in John's view none were as well received as the simple songs of the Hutchinson Family.

When the company toured Windsor Castle, George Thompson told the guide that the Hutchinsons were Yankees, came from the backwoods, and on their arrival were wild; but having been in the United Kingdom for a few months, they were fairly well tamed, completely harmless, and could even speak a little English.

John wrote,  "We gave one or two more concerts in London,  which we considered very successful in every way,  and then we began to take leave of our many dear friends."