William Cottrell-Dormer was born on 27 August 1901, in Rolle, Switzerland. His Primary Education was done in France and he completed his education in Australia, obtaining his B.ScAgr (1931) and M.ScAgr (1936) at University of Queensland. His manuscript collection includes a very detailed Curriculum Vitae describing in detail the projects he undertook as they relate to his career in Papua New Guinea and Tonga 1939 - 1944: Director of Agriculture, Tonga 1944 - 1945: Horticulturist, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock 1946 - 1951: Director of Agriculture, PNG 1951 - 1961: Principal Agricultural Officer (Extension) in Field, PNG. William Cottrell-Dormer died in 1986.

Select bibliography
Cottrell-Dormer, W. (1926). 'Notes and observations on the red streak associated with Queensland top rot disease', Queensland Agricultural Journal, May 1926, pp.406-414.
-- (1927). 'Report of the Fiji disease situation in Queensland', Queensland Agricultural Journal, Aug 1927, pp. 125-141.
-- (1932). 'Red-stripe disease of sugar-cane in Queensland', Bulletin, Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations Division of Pathology, no. 3, pp. 25-57.
-- (1939). 'The centrifuge in the plantation laboratory', Proceedings of the Queensland Society of Sugar Cane Technologists Annual Conference, pp. 129-135.
-- (1945). An electric pollinator for tomatoes. Bulletin, Queensland Division of Plant Industry, no. 24.
-- (1955). 'Some aspects of agricultural development in Papua and New Guinea', South Pacific, vol. 8 no. 4, pp.53-55.
-- (1961). 'Rural extension in Eastern Papua', The Papua and New Guinea Agricultural Journal, vol. 14 nos.2-3, pp. 92-112.