 Hesketh-Prichard was born an only child on 17 November 1876 in Jhansi, North-Western Provinces, India.His father Hesketh Brodrick Prichard, an officer in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, died from typhoid six weeks before he was born, leading him to be raised alone by his mother, Kate O'Brien Ryall Prichard.She herself had come from a military family, her father being Major-General Browne William Ryall.