Peter Willmott (18 September 1923 – 8 April 2000) was a British sociologist who along with

Michael Young Michael Young may refer to: Academics * Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), British life peer, sociologist and social activist * Michael Young (educationalist), British educational theorist and sociologist * Michael K. Youn ...

founded the Institute for Community Studies. His studies of family life and housing influenced both social policy and the development of applied social research in Britain after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Willmott was born at

Adderbury Adderbury is a winding linear village and rural Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Banbury in northern Oxfordshire, England. The settlement has five sections: the new Milton Road housing Development and West Adderbury, towar ...

, near

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, to Benjamin Merriman Willmott, an automobile engineer and part-owner of a small motor-repair workshop and garage who also ran a rural one-bus service, and Dorothy Nellie Godden (née Weymouth; d. 1927). After his mother's death, Willmott's family (he, his father, and an aunt and her children) moved to

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, where Willmott became an engineering apprentice in a car factory. During the

, Willmott was a "Bevan Boy", working in a mine in the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

Valley until developing

nystagmus Nystagmus is a condition of involuntary (or voluntary, in some cases) Eye movement (sensory), eye movement. People can be born with it but more commonly acquire it in infancy or later in life. In many cases it may result in visual impairment, re ...

, precipitated perhaps by the always-poor condition of his eyes, and being declared unfit for further mining work. He then worked for the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

in the

Friends Relief Service The Friends Relief Service (FRS) was a voluntary humanitarian relief organisation formally established by a committee of Britain Yearly Meeting in November 1940. Largely staffed by pacifists and conscientious objectors, its aim was to provide hu ...

and

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914 to 1919, 1939 to 1946 and ...

, until gaining a place to study economics and politics as a mature student at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...

, Oxford.

Career

In 1947, Willmott contacted his future collaborator Michael Young regarding a Labour party pamphlet produced by the latter; he subsequently worked for the party research department. Whilst working on his first book with Young, ''Family and Kinship in East London'' (published in 1957), Willmott and his wife lived for three years in the attic of the Institute of Community Studies at

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

. Their sons' attendance at local schools allowed for the observation of the people of the area, "Phyllis... collecting them at the school gates and chatting to other mums..." Subsequent books by Willmott and Young included ''Family and Class in a London Suburb'' (1960) and ''The Symmetrical Family'' (1973). In 1963, Willmott produced his first solo book, ''The Evolution of a Community'', followed by ''Adolescent Boys of East London'' in 1966. Over the course of his career, Willmott was a professor at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

Personal life

Willmott married Phyllis Noble in 1948, having met her when he was working at a Methodist homeless hostel and she was looking for shelter for a tramp. She was a medical social worker, former bank clerk, and served in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

during the Second World War, and would herself become a sociologist and lecturer on social policy, including as a research assistant for

Richard Titmuss Richard Morris Titmuss (16 October 1907 – 6 April 1973) was a British social researcher and teacher. He founded the academic discipline of social administration (now largely known in universities as social policy) and held the founding chair ...

and for the Institute of Community Studies. She was an assiduous diarist (later a published autobiographer), and was her husband's "collaborator and chief support". They had two sons, Lewis and Michael.

References

External links

The Papers of Peter and Phyllis Willmott
at th
Churchill Archives Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willmott, Peter 1923 births 2000 deaths British sociologists Alumni of Ruskin College