Brittan was born in Devonport, but by 1841 the family had moved to Madron, near Penzance, and by 1851 to Truro. His paintings focussed on bird and animal subjects. From this artist, only works on paper are known, the most famous being The Antler'd Monarch of the Waste which was exhibited at Suffolk Street in 1858. 

He was the father and teacher of Charles Edward BRITTAN (Jnr) (born Plymouth 1870), who specialized in landscapes. Brittan Snr began exhibiting in the mid-1850s with the Royal Polytechnic Society in Falmouth, and won a number of medals and citations for unnamed works. Later he was to become one of the judges of the Annual Exhibitions in Falmouth. In 1863 Brittan Snr married Isabella Tripe (1839-1877) and they moved to Plymouth. After Isabella's death in 1877 he married again, but died prematurely in 1888.