Born in a small Shropshire village, Weaver displayed an advanced artistic ability as a child. At just 17 he was apprenticed to John Boultbee of Leicestershire, a pupil of George Stubbs. During his pupilage he mastered the laying on of paint, how to portray animals, and the niceties of livestock breeding, copying his teacher’s works and traveling with him on commissions. Afterward, Weaver established himself in Mardol as a competent artist completing portraits for the local gentry. Commissions eventually took him to London where he portrayed prize bulls at the Smithfield Show. He traveled north to County Durham where he enjoyed a lucrative relationship with the Colling Brothers. There he also became a notable painter of equestrian portraits. His work was exhibited with the Royal Academy and the Liverpool Academy. He died in 1844 and was buried at All Saints Church, Childwall, where a memorial to the artist can now be found.