Education
From 1733 to 1738, he attended Shrewsbury School, and in 1738, matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, subsequently gaining a Bachelor in 1741.
From 1733 to 1738, he attended Shrewsbury School, and in 1738, matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, subsequently gaining a Bachelor in 1741.
He was baptised 13 April 1719, and spent his first 14 years between his home at Trefeglwys and school in nearby Newtown. The following year, he was commissioned as a chaplain in the Royal Navy. By 1745, he was a chaplain on a ship of war at the various engagements between the sieges of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
He was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts or Venerable Society to assist at Street Paul"s Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia under the auspices of the Bishop of London, while the rector William Tutty returned to London on private business, during which trip Tutty died in 1754.
Breynton immediately took over as missionary and minister, or Rector, at Street Paul"s in 1754. Earlier, in 1753, he had founded the first free school in Nova Scotia.
In 1760, he consecrated Street George"s "Little Dutch" (Deutsch) Church - the second oldest church in Halifax, becoming fluent in German as a result. In 1770, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Oxford.
He returned to London during 1771-1772 to collect his degree, but returned to resume his post in Halifax.
By 30 October 1776, he was Chaplain to the Royal Fencible Americans. By 6 September 1779, as a widower, he remarried and continued as Rector of Street Paul"s Church, Halifax. Because of his fluency in German, he was reported to have been a chaplain to Queen Charlotte.
He remained in London until his death in 1799.
Breynton married twice:
Mary Breynton (Centre for Industrial Research 1753-1795), married 19 August 1775 Halifax, Nova Scotia to Captain John Watson
Anne Breynton (1755–1829), married 28 November 1778 Street George"s Hanover Square, London to Francis Perceval Eliot
John Breynton (1756–1843), married 9 January 1793 Street Mary"s Church, Lichfield to Elizabeth Cotton
Henry Edward Breynton (1759–1761)
Breynton died on 15 July 1799 in Edgware Road, Paddington, London. He was buried in the Street Marylebone Burial ground, Paddington Street, London.
His widow died in December 1806 at Lichfield, Staffordshire.