By now married and desperate for money during one of his wife's pregnancies, Wedderburn visited his father's family at Inveresk on the outskirts of Edinburgh. As this proved unsuccessful (apparently his father disavowed him and he was sent away with some small beer and a bent or broken sixpence), Wedderburn dabbled in petty theft and keeping a bawdy house. At some point he published in "Bell's Life in London" an account of his origins and his father's failure to provide for him. His alleged half-brother Andrew Colvile published a reply citing his father's denial of paternity and later threatened to sue the paper if it published any further slanders.