His early life is little documented, and one of the earliest recorded references to him is in 1719, when he and his elder brother Robert were admitted to the city of Norwich as freemen bricklayers. A critic of Brettingham's at this time claimed that his work was so poor that it was not worth the nine shillings a week (£74 in 2022) he was paid as a craftsman bricklayer.[2] Whatever the quality of his bricklaying, he soon advanced himself and became a building contractor.[2]