Son of a schoolmaster in Ealing, he was mostly self-educated before his medical training at London University, for which he felt no vocation. It was while working as a surgeon on board HMS Rattlesnake in Australasia that he found both a wife and a vocation, spending his spare time studying the marine life. His research on jellyfish brought him recognition by the Royal Society of London. Back in Britain, he took up a lectureship in palaeontology and natural history at the Government School of Mines, becoming an authority on fossils.
He played an important part in describing and naming some of the fossils from Dura Den. Huxley was a declared agnostic and an ardent supporter of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Through his sharp intellect and witty, fiery speeches he was a champion in the battle for Darwinism.