William's life followed a relentless downward arc, meticulously chronicled by his father in an unpublished three-volume account titled Filial Ingratitude :
Born in 1791, William was sent to top schools like Harrow but rebelled against their "brutal regimes". He preferred the life of a "Regency buck," characterized by fine clothes, gambling, and the pursuit of prostitutes. To his friends, he was a "damned good fellow"; to his father, he was a sign of total moral failure. A Descent into Depravity The Profligate Son: Or, a True Story of Family ...
In the early 19th century, few things terrified a Georgian parent more than a "profligate son"—a young man who traded moral and financial self-control for the hedonistic temptations of Regency London. This fear is the centerpiece of by historian Nicola Phillips . A Descent into Depravity In the early 19th