His father George Braikenridge (1738-1827) was from Brislington, Bristol, but was a tobacco planter and merchant living in the Colony of Virginia at the time of Braikenridge's birth in 1775, having married Sarah "Sally" Jerdone, daughter of Virginian merchant and planter Francis Jerdone [REF].
In 1823 he purchased Broomwell House, Brislington,[REF] to which he added a gothic library, and started to fill the house with collected items of stonework, woodcarving and stained glass [REF].