Bill Southwood was born in London on 8 June 1925, the son of Stuart Walter Southwood, a dental surgeon, and Mildred Mary, the daughter of an heraldic stationer. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, before going on to Guy's in 1945. He qualified with a gold medal in obstetrics and gynaecology, and, after serving as house surgeon at Guy's, he joined the RAMC for his National Service, staying on afterwards in the Territorial Army. After registrar appointments at St Mark's and the West London Hospitals, he became senior registrar in Bristol under R V Cooke. During this time he went as an exchange fellow to New York Hospital and Cornell Medical School from 1956 to 1957, and was awarded an Hunterian Professorship in 1961. He was appointed consultant surgeon to the Bath Health District in 1966. He was College tutor from 1968 to 1977 and a member of the editorial committee of the *Lives of the Fellows*. He was a keen member of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, was its Master from 1986 to 1987 and treasurer from 1989. He served the professional and linguistic assessment board from 1976 to 1987, being chairman for the last three years of this period. In 1965, he married Margaret Carlton Holderness, a doctor and the daughter of Sir Ernest Holderness Bt. They had two sons, Robert William, a paramedic in Florida, and John Carleton. His hobbies included fishing, snooker and bridge. He died on 27 April 2002.