John Breynton

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Reverend Dr John Breynton
Born	BEF 13 April 1719 Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, Wales
Died	July 15, 1799 (aged 80) Edgware Road, London
Burial place	St Marylebone Parish Church, Paddington, London, England

John Breynton (1719, Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, Wales – July 15, 1799 Edgware Road, Paddington, London) was a renowned minister in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

He was baptised 13 April 1719, and spent his first 14 years between his home at Trefeglwys and nearby Newtown. From 1733 to 1738, he attended Shrewsbury School, and in 1738, matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, subsequently gaining a BA in 1741. 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 St 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 St Paul's in 1754.

Earlier, in 1753, he had founded the first free school in Nova Scotia ^[1]. In 1760, he consecrated St George's 'Little Dutch (Deutsch) Church - the second oldest church in Halifax ^[2], becoming fluent in German as a result. In 1770 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Oxford ^[3]. He returned to London during 1771-1772 to collect his degree, but returned to resume his post in Halifax. By the 30 October 1776, he was Chaplain to the Royal Fencible Americans.

On 13 September 1778, he lost his first wife shortly before the 28 November 1778 wedding of their daughter Anne in St George's Hanover Square.

By 6 September 1779, as a widower, he remarried and continued as Rector of St Paul's Church, Halifax. With his second wife, he appears to have returned to London shortly after 1785, continuing to draw his Halifax salary until he resigned and was replaced in 1791. Because of his fluency in German, he was reported to have been a chaplain to Queen Charlotte. He remained in London and died in 1799 in Edgware Road, Paddington, London. He is buried in the St Marylebone Burial ground, Paddington Street, London. His widow died in 1806 at Lichfield, Staffordshire.

[edit] Family

Breynton married twice. He married firstly in the early 1750s to Elizabeth (surname unknown) (d. 13 September 1778). Together, they had 2 daughters and 2 sons:

1. Mary (CIR 1753-1795), married on 19 Aug 1775 at Halifax, Nova Scotia to Captain John Watson
2. Anne (1755-1839), married 28 November 1778 St George's Hanover Square, London to Francis Perceval Eliot
3. John (1756-1843), married 9 Jan 1793 St Mary's Church, Lichfield to Elizabeth Cotton
4. Henry Edward Breynton (1759-1761)

Following the death of his first wife, he married secondly on 9 September 1779 to the widow, Mrs Mary Gerrish née Cradock, (18 May 1723 Boston, Massachusetts, USA - December 1806 Lichfield, Staffordshire, England). She was the daughter of George Cradock and his wife Mary née Lyde of Boston, Massachusetts, and the widow of Joseph Gerrish (Boston, Massachusetts 1709-1774 Halifax, Nova Scotia), whom she married in 1768 Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

• Portrait of Rev Dr John Breynton, DD
• http://blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/story/faith/anglican.htm
• http://www.museeacadien.ca/argyle/html/body_egrant1.htm
• http://www.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/canada/halifaxsgac.html#English

Persondata
NAME	Breynton, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Missionary, Minister
DATE OF BIRTH	1719
PLACE OF BIRTH	Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, Wales
DATE OF DEATH	1799-07-15
PLACE OF DEATH	Edgware Road, London, England