William destroyed the will and forged a replacement, leaving everything to his mother with himself as executor. Subsequently it was easy to get her consent to mortgaging or selling most of the property.
The following year he stood for Parliament and, after spending £6,000 on his campaign, won an unprecedented 9,318 votes to become one of two Liberal MPs for Lambeth. He became a founder member and Major-Commandant of the 19th Corps of Surrey Rifles Volunteers, despite having no miltary experience.
But in 1862, his debtors called in their money. William burned documents and fled to Spain. Richard persuaded him to return, and he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to penal servitude for life.
Released after 14 years, he returned to live with his mother and sister at Aspen House. One by one, the rest of his family died. William reinvented himself as a horticulturalist and was very much involved at nearby Christ Church.
When he died in poverty at the age of 77, more than 300 people attended his funeral and he was buried in the family vault at West Norwood Cemetery. He had become a respected local figure who, it was considered, had atoned for his misdeeds.
He was the last of our Roupells.