John Breedon Senior

John Breedon was probably in Woburn (Bedfordshire) and was apprenticed as a tradesman in London at the age of thirteen. In 1648, he became a freeman of the Ironmongers' Company and was a Master of the Ironmongers' Company from 1668 to 1669.

John Breedon acquired his considerable wealth as a partner with Sir William Bucknall in the excise farm. By 1671 he amassed enough of a fortune in the City to purchase for himself Pangbourne manor, six miles from Reading, which became the family seat. Over the next decade John continued to buy and lease property, for example at Hartwell and Stone, Rickmansworth, Westminster and in County Durham. He also had a distinguished civil career. In 1675 he was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire and was a Commissioner for assessment. He was a Member of Parliament for Reading in 1685. He died on 16th August 1685 and his estates were inherited by his grand-nephew, John Breedon II.