Peter Willmott (18 September 1923 – 8 April 2000)[1] was a British sociologist who along with Michael Young founded the Institute for Community Studies.
Whilst working on his first book with Young, Family and Kinship in East London (published in 1957), Willmott and his wife lived for three years in the attic of the Institute of Community Studies at Bethnal Green.
Their sons' attendance at local schools allowed for the observation of the people of the area, "Phyllis... collecting them at the school gates and chatting to other mums..." Subsequent books by Willmott and Young included Family and Class in a London Suburb (1960) and The Symmetrical Family (1973).
In 1963, Willmott produced his first solo book, The Evolution of a Community, followed by Adolescent Boys of East London in 1966.
[11] Willmott married Phyllis Noble in 1948, having met her when he was working at a Methodist homeless hostel and she was looking for shelter for a tramp.