William Burnett was born in London on 14 March 1906 and received his medical education at University College Hospital. As a student he won exhibitions in pathology and biology. After qualification in 1929 he took resident appointments at Portsmouth Hospital, and then settled in general practice at R

Eileen Mary Whapham was an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Southend and Rochford Hospitals. She was born in London on 23 May 1907, the daughter of Albert Whapham, a businessman, and Harrie Mary Louisa Whitney, a schoolteacher who was the daughter of a cabinet-maker. Her younger sister, Violet Harr