Walter John Burfitt-Williams was born in Bellevue Hill, Sydney, on 27 June 1927. His father, Grosvenor John Williams, was an ophthalmic surgeon. His mother, Mary Boyd Burfitt, was a physician. Two of his brothers were doctors - Thomas was a physician and Grosvenor, an ophthalmologist. Walter was educated at the Marcelin College, Sydney, and the University of Sydney. After junior appointments he went to England to specialise in surgery and passed the FRCS in 1957. He returned to Sydney as a clinical assistant at St Vincent's Hospital, and was appointed honorary surgeon to the Mater Misericordia and the Lewiston Hospitals. After passing the primary, he married Dorothy Laffy, a nursing sister he had met as an undergraduate in Sydney. They had no children. He was a keen golfer and follower of horse racing. He was the owner of several champion race horses and a member of the Jockey Club. In 1975 he was found to have multiple myeloma of the cervical spine and underwent many courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. When he found it difficult to stand he resigned from his hospital appointments, in 1981, but went on to develop a notable Limousin cattle stud on 640 acres in New South Wales, winning numerous prizes in shows.