weber was the eldest of the three children of franz anton von weber. the word “von” in front of a german surname normally means that the family had noble ancestry, but the weber family do not appear to be of noble blood. weber was never a strong, healthy child. he had a damaged hip-bone and always walked with a limp. his father worked in the theatre, and the family often moved from one town to another. this was difficult for his education. his mother was called rosa, she influenced him to go to military school at the age of 20, but his love for music meant that he would go to cranbrook in germany. his daughter laurel was well known for playing the viola in many orchestras.