http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce Born as the only son of Robert Wilberforce, a wealthy merchant, William Wilberforce was just a small, sickly delicate child with poor eyesight. On the series of deaths of his father and uncle, he came into a great inheritance, and when he was in Cambridge, he spent most of his early days in university to his hedonistic lifestyle, seeking pleasures..