[1][2] His father, born in New York[3][4] of Scottish paternity and schooled in Scotland, had made his fortune as a merchant in Calcutta, India, before setting up home in Palmira Square, Brighton.
William's sister, Annabella Jean Ralston Sheddon (1823–1873), took up the pleadings, and at one stage in 1861 conducted the case before a committee of the House of Lords for more than thirty days while their father was in prison for unpaid legal debts.
William had prepared for and been called to the bar before his father's litigation began, but the change in the family's fortunes after the initial unfavourable decision in 1852, forced him to seek a more secure living.
On 1 September 1853 William went to work as a junior assistant in the printed-book department of the British Museum, where his zeal and ability won the respect of his superiors.
Having contracted for its publication with Messrs. Cassell & Co, at the last moment he allowed them to cancel the agreement and publish instead Donald Mackenzie Wallace's book Russia.
He gave story-tellings to the young princes and princesses at Marlborough House, and to other social gatherings; and also, in aid of charities, to audiences in east London and the provinces.
His health failing, he resigned from the British Museum in 1875 and sought to devote himself to literary work, but he was susceptible to acute depression and became increasingly withdrawn.