Frederick Edwin Willmott was born in Beeston, Nottingham and attended Henry Mellish Grammar School. He studied at Guy's Hospital, qualifying in 1964. After postings in Nottingham, he served in the Royal Navy, including a planting deployment to Singapore. After leaving the navy he specialized in genitourinary medicine and worked in Manchester and Leicester. In New Zealand he became a consultant and established a specialist genitourinary medicine service in Auckland. In 1985 he returned to the UK with his wife Gillian and two children and became a consultant at the Royal South Hants Hospital at the Bullar Street Clinic. There he treated HIV patients with great care and respect and promoted the development of effective treatment methods. He was an expert microscopist and a keen diagnostician.