William Willmott

{{Short description|Australian politician (1895–1947)}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = William Willmott

|honorific-suffix =

|image =

|alt =

|caption =

|office = Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia

|constituency = Sussex

|term_start = 12 February 1938

|term_end = 2 May 1947

|predecessor = Edmund Brockman

|successor = Stewart Bovell

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1895|5|16|df=y}}

|birth_place = Busselton, Western Australia, Australia

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|5|2|1895|5|16|df=y}}

|death_place = Busselton, Western Australia

|party = Nationalist (to 1945)
Liberal (from 1945)

}}

William Henry Francis Willmott (16 May 1895 – 2 May 1947) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1938 until his death, representing the seat of Sussex.

Willmott was born in Busselton, in Western Australia's South West region. His uncle, Francis Edward Sykes Willmott, and first cousin, Francis Drake Willmott, were both also members of parliament. As a boy, Willmott lived at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse for several years, where his father was the lighthouse keeper. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1916, and during the war served as a private with the 16th and 32nd Battalions. While fighting at Zonnebeke, Belgium, Willmott lost one of his legs. After the war's end, he returned to Busselton to farm, and also served on the board of a dairy company.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/Library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/LookupName/A67256C3EFB75146482577E50028A84A?opendocument William Henry Francis Willmott] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 3 June 2016. Representing the Nationalist Party, Willmott was elected to parliament at the 1938 Sussex by-election, which had been caused by the death of the sitting member, Edmund Brockman (a brother-in-law of Willmott's uncle).{{cite book|last=Black|first=David|authorlink=David Black (historian)|last2=Prescott|first2=Valerie|title=Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth, [W.A.]|isbn=0730984095}} During the election campaign, he drove his car into a tree, which sent him into a brief coma and resulted in a broken rib and a severe concussion.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83425616 "Candidate Still Unconscious"], The Daily News (Perth, Western Australia), 29 January 1938. Willmott retained his seat at the 1939, 1943, and 1947 state elections. However, he died in office in May 1947 (aged 51), after an extended illness.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46280640 "PARLIAMENTARY CAREER ENDS."], The West Australian, 3 May 1947.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148231168 "DEATH OF MR. W. H. F. WILLMOTT"], The South-Western News, 8 May 1947.