Private
Some people don't have any respect for the property rights of others. Maybe some have noble aims and some don't, but the laws are there for a reason. Or do you think it right that an old woman who hasn't the strength to defend herself should starve because stronger people can steal what she has? Maybe they need it, or that is what they tell themselves. It doesn't make it right.
Your father had a wife and children. It was his duty to provide for them. His drinking made him happy but it made other people miserable, didn't it?
You don't know anything about my father. You've never met him. You don't even know his name. So your warning doesn't really mean anything.
What good would leaving by ship do? I have a little boat. There's a magical barrier, only so far you can sail out before you get all turned about, and even if that weren't so, it's not like I can sail from a magical unplottable realm back to London of 1849, is it? Preya's not on any map. What's your idea? So you've done things for others. People who mattered. For me, that's family.
I'd try to kill someone who was trying to kill me. I reckon most people would, if it came to it. That doesn't mean it isn't still horrid.