Born in
Marylebone,
Middlesex, Weigall was son of a Victorian artist,
Henry Weigall (best known for his portrait of
Benjamin Disraeli in 1878–1879), and his wife,
Lady Rose Sophia Mary Fane, daughter of
John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland, and wife
Priscilla Anne Wellesley-Pole. Through his mother, he was connected to the Duke of Wellington. A younger brother was Lieutenant Colonel Sir
William Ernest George Archibald Weigall, 1st Baronet, KCMG, a Conservative Member of Parliament who was Governor of South Australia. One of his older brothers was the cricketer
Gerry Weigall (born Gerald John Villiers Weigall). Another brother,
Evelyn, was also first-class cricketer. Weigall was educated at
Wellington College, before enlisting in the
Rifle Brigade as a
Second Lieutenant in December 1892. He was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant in October 1893, with promotion to
captain following in February 1898. He transferred to the
Royal Berkshire Regiment in that same year. Weigall ran a fishing company in
Grimsby during the first decade of the 1900s, with the company ceasing to trade in 1909. Being located in Grimsby meant he played
minor counties cricket for
Lincolnshire from 1907–1914, making eight appearances in the
Minor Counties Championship. ==World War I and first-class cricket==