William (‘Bill’) Richmond pioneered the development of urology services at what is now Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust. He was born on 1 June 1943 in Ulverston Cottage Hospital, Lancashire to David Alan Richmond, an orthopaedic surgeon, and Eira Richmond (née Osterstock) a nurse, a brother to their first child, Jennifer, who was then two years old. William was named after his maternal uncle who was killed on active service in 1942. The family lived in Bardsea on the edge of Morecambe Bay before they emigrated to New Zealand in 1946, where his father was to join a general practice as their surgeon. The post was not as advertised and they returned to England in 1947, his father then spending two years with the RAMC serving in Malaya and Japan. The family moved several times in Lancashire before his parents finally settled in Colne, where his father worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in the local group of hospitals. Unsurprisingly, given this initial peripatetic background, the children were sent as boarders to Westholme School in Arnside, where William settled in quickly even though he was only four years old. He continued his education at Cressbrook School in Kirkby Lonsdale, before moving to Sedbergh. It was here that he discovered his interest in shooting (and had several exploits with explosives), becoming a crack shot with clay pigeons. He also indulged his love of ornithology, encouraged by his father who was himself a keen ornithologist. From his mother, who would take him and Jennifer to visit rivers in the Yorkshire Dales, he inherited a lifelong love of fishing. He went from Sedbergh to Manchester University to study medicine and qualified in 1966. As a student he was popular and an enthusiastic player for the medics’ rugby team though, as a team member put it, he played for the enjoyment rather than the result. He held junior house officer posts in surgery and medicine at Salford Royal Hospital and then joined the anatomy department at Manchester for a year in preparation for a career in surgery. A senior house officer rotation at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Park Hospital, Davyhulme was followed by a registrar post at Withington and a senior registrar post at Manchester Royal Infirmary with Eric Charlton Edwards. In 1976 he was appointed as a consultant surgeon to the Wigan, Wrightington and Leigh group of hospitals, their first urologist. He initially delivered services at clinics at Leigh Infirmary and Wrightington, before moving the Wrightington clinic to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in 1988. He and his team of local pioneers not only established urology services but delivered, over many years, some of the shortest NHS urology waiting lists in the UK. In addition to his surgical work, he served as clinical director of surgery and consultant representative on the Wigan Area Health Authority. Later he was on the steering committee which set up the Wigan and Leigh Health Services NHS Trust and was then a member of the Trust board. He retired in 1999. William married Terry (née Mills) in 1969 and they had two children, Liam and Kerry, but the marriage was short lived. He met Bernadette Piot in 1977 and they eventually married in 1994. Within a few weeks of his retirement they moved to the Vercors region of France, where both developed a love of cross-country skiing. Retirement gave William a chance to indulge his other outside interests. He had long had an interest in motor sports and had been a medic at Oulton Park Circuit, where he was a competitive mini car racer. He was also a member of Porsche Club Great Britain, the Porsche Club Bourgogne Franche-Comté and the Goodwood Road and Racing Club. William and Bernadette returned to the UK in 2011, settling in Hampshire, where he had the opportunity to rekindle his love of ornithology and fly fishing, joining the Salisbury District Angling Club. He also tried his hand at sailing in Christchurch Harbour, but the siren call of the engine was hard to resist and he gained certificates for safety boat duties. In 2013 he was invited back to Wigan to open the Richmond urology unit in the new Hanover Diagnostic and Treatment Centre, in recognition of the contribution he had made to the development of urology services. That his name was chosen 14 years after he had left is an indication of the regard in which he was held. About 12 months later he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery. In March 2017 he developed low back pain as a result of metastatic spread, not from his prostate, but from an adenocarcinoma of the lung, despite being a lifelong non-smoker. He was swiftly diagnosed and given excellent treatment. Although it may have delayed progression to some extent and initially brought symptom relief, he inevitably deteriorated. Typical of William, he remained upbeat until the very last. He will be remembered by friends, colleagues and patients for his openness, his humour, his unique brand of political incorrectness, his ability to talk to patients in their terms (he would frequently introduce himself as ‘Mr Richmond, the dick doctor’) and, of course, for his surgical skill and clinical ability. He died on 29 March 2018, aged 74, and was survived by his wife, Bernadette, his children, Liam and Kerry, and his sister, Jen.