About William Thomas Duperouzel BEM FCPA (Aust.)

William was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1946, and now lives in England. His early childhood years were spent in South Perth, North Fremantle and Palmyra when he attended Christian Brothers College, Fremantle. After leaving school he started his first job with WA Glass Works and embarked on a part-time course to study for a Diploma in Accounting.

He achieved his Diploma at the end of 1969 and embarked on a working holiday in early 1970 to fulfil an ambition to see a Dutch childhood school friend whose family had earlier returned to the Netherlands from Fremantle. At the end of 1970 he achieved this ambition having travelled via Canada and the USA. After working on the assembly line for the DAF car manufacturing company in the Netherlands he travelled to England in early 1971 and based himself in Earl’s Court, London having taken on a finance role with Courtaulds. Within three months he met his wife to be, Janet.

William and Janet married in Devon, England in 1974 and settled in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. They have two daughters and are devoted grandparents of twin granddaughters.

William is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant, FCPA (Aust), now retired. He is proud to be a Founding Father of CPA Europe having served on foundation committee from 1978.

Throughout his career he held senior finance roles in the IT industry most notably with Scicon Computer Services, a subsidiary of BP and Electronic Data Systems. After a long career in the commercial sector William wanted to give something back in the charity sector and joined Workaid. This charity refurbishes trade tools and sewing machines with the help of volunteers. The tools are sent to disadvantaged people in Africa to provide them with the opportunity to learn a trade skill and to become self-supporting. However, after having enjoyed his six years with Workaid he suffered a stroke in 2010 and decided to retire as the CEO of the charity in 2011. He served as a trustee for 10 years and continues as a Member and volunteer tool collector.

William has held a keen interest in genealogy from an early age. Together with Janet they researched his family roots and in 2003 published ‘Petrosellum A Global History of the Families Dupérouzel / Duperrouzel’. He has since published four more books namely:

• ‘SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE’ – 2016. This is a tribute to his Uncle Jim Duperouzel from York, Western Australia, who was killed in action on the Somme, France in 1916. To commemorate Uncle Jim’s 100th anniversary William and Janet organised a family pilgrimage to the Somme for the 2016 ANZAC Day Dawn
  Service at Villers-Bretonneux when 30 members of the Duperouzel family travelled from Australia, UK and France.
• ‘SUNSET OVER MOUNT DOURAKING’ – 2019. This is a tribute to Janet Millett and the Rev. Edward Millett, pioneers of York, Western Australia in the 1860s.
• ‘Let go…let God’ – 2020. This is a tribute to Katrina Boyce, founder, and Paul Cole, benefactor, of the local charity ‘Leighton Buzzard Centre for Health, Healing & Counselling’. William has been a trustee and the treasurer of this charity since 2009.
• ‘Police Sergeant Alexander Duperouzel and his Family at the South Perth Police Station 1948-1952’ – 2023. This book encapsulates childhood memories of when the family resided in the living quarters of this property which is now a heritage site.

In 1988-1990 William participated in the London to Brighton Charity Bike Ride for the British Heart Foundation. Having been inspired by Janet, who co-founded the brain injury charity, Headway South Beds in 1990, William decided to create a local charity bike ride event for Headway South Beds. This annual event raised £70,000 during the sixteen years this Bike Ride was active.

In 2012 William was a volunteer in the Cycling Team at the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.

William was awarded the British Empire Medal, BEM, in The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2017 for services to charity and to the community of Bedfordshire.

William continues to be active at his local Sacred Heart Church with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Catenian Association.

Books by William Thomas Duperouzel