Her father was from Derbyshire, England, having served as a captain of the 40th Regiment of Foot, and port surveyor of the revenue board in Cork and Drogheda.

She also encouraged the princess to write an autobiographical memoir, which Dashkova dedicated to Wilmot as her "young friend" and gave her permission to publish the manuscript.

Her sister left Russia in 1807 with the memoirs transcript when the Wilmots learnt they were under threat from Madame Shcherbenin, the estranged daughter of the princess, who was suspicious of their intentions.

While leaving St Petersburg, Wilmot was stopped and detained by customs officials who believed her to be in possession of secret documents.

On 26 October 1808, she sailed on the Maria, but this ship was wrecked leaving Wilmot to spend 8 days on the island of Stamieux, near Hamina, Finland.

Living there for the next 10 years, they were friends with Charles William, the British ambassador, and his wife Frances Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry.

Wilmot had delayed the publication due to strenuous opposition from Semyon (Simon) Vorontsov, Dashkova's brother, who for twenty years was Russian ambassador to Britain.

Wilmot's daughter donated the manuscript of the transcription of Dashkova's memoirs, including revisions from the princess, to the British Museum library.