Leigh was born at Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, the second son of Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh, and Margarette Willes, daughter of Reverend William Shippen Willes, of Astrop House, Northamptonshire.
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Leigh started playing cricket as a boy at Stoneleigh Abbey after his father Lord Leigh, Lord Byron's schoolmate at Harrow, established a cricket ground at his country estate at Stoneleigh Abbey in 1839 for his eldest son William Henry Leigh who was attending Harrow.
Edward Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh (1742–1786) was descended from Thomas Leigh, Lord Mayor of London in 1558, and inherited the Leigh family seat at Stoneleigh Abbey, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire following the death of father Thomas Leigh, 4th Baron Leigh in 1749.
but very little trace remains of the original Abbey buildings except for the 14th century Gatehouse.
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Alice Leigh was a daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh, 1st Baronet (died 1625), of Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire, who was created a baronet in 1611, by his marriage to Catherine, a daughter of Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton.
The club was formed in 1839 by Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh and the ground was established in front of the West Wing of Stoneleigh Abbey for the benefit of his sons William Henry Leigh and Edward Chandos Leigh so that they might continue to play cricket in the summer on returning home from Harrow School.