Bill East was born in London in 1939 and his earliest memories are of the Blitz, air-raid shelters, ration cards and the absence of a father fighting in Europe and North Africa. He attended Westminster City School and Newcastle High School, North Staffordshire and was a chorister at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, in the early fifties. 

Unable to settle on a career path, he joined the Merchant Navy as a Radio Officer before marrying his New Zealand fiancée, Isabel, with whom he migrated to Australia in 1968. They are still married and live on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. They have two married sons and four grandchildren.

Bill worked in the chemical industry until 1987 when he set up his own Company selling cosmetic raw materials, bulk fragrances, essential oils etc. The company is now managed by his elder son.