Henry Weigall

Born 1800 (Circa)
Died 14 August 1882

Active: 1825 - 1856

Country of birth: England

Country of death: Australia

Sculptor, gem engraver, die-sinker, modeller

Born in St. James's, Middlesex. Henry was married to Selina, the sister of Dr Theyre Townsend Smith (1798–1852), a celebrated preacher at the Temple Church and William Henry Smith (1808–1872), writer and philosopher. Henry and Selina's son Henry (1829–1925) was a miniature and society portrait painter who in 1866 married Lady Rose Sophia Mary Fane (1834–1921). She was the daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland and became a literary editor and social worker. In the latter part of the 19th century, the younger Henry and Lady Rose established a holiday home for members of the London Boy's Brigade at their estate in Kent. Henry and Selina's younger son Alfred (born c.1835 in Kensington and died after 1901) was also a miniature painter.

Little is known of Weigall's early career. However before 1851 he became a gem engraver and held a special appointment as an engraver to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Weigall was a member of the Royal Society of Arts and organised an exhibition of portraits of eminent statesmen by sculptors such as Edward Hodges Baily, William Behnes, Thomas Thornycroft and Henry Weekes at the society's rooms in St John Street in June 1851. Roscoe (2009) suggests a number of Weigall's works may have been wrongly attributed to C. Henry Weigall or the painter Charles Harvey Weigall.

In 1856 Weigall and his wife, Selina emigrated to Australia. He died in Melbourne in 1882, followed by his wife a year later. The sole executor of Selina's estate was their son Henry. However, there appears to have been family left in Australia from whom the barrister and judge, Theyre à Beckett Weigall (1860-1926) was descended.

Wealth at death: £975 0s. 0d.
This is the personal estate of Selina Weigall, Henry's wife and is given as a guide to their financial circumstances
Probate date: 19 September 1888

Citing this record

'Henry Weigall', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1239890911, accessed 04 Jun 2023]