British physician and neurologist, born 31st October, 1886, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; died 17th March, 1935. William John Adie was born in the harbour city of Geelong, west of Melbourne on the southern coast of Australia. He received his first education at Flinder’s School, but at the age of 13 he had to leave school in order to support the family, as his father had died in 1899. He worked as an errand runner in an office. One of his employers recognised his capacity for learning and paid evening courses for him. Thus he was able to pass the examination necessary for university entry. One of his topics was German, which had had learned mostly from visiting sailors. It was a practician in his native city, Dr. Arthur South, who inspired Adie to embark on a medical career.Adie had great intellectual gifts and he was an acute clinical observer and a fine teacher. He was also a kindly, modest, approachable man and he was held in high regard by his students. He lived an active life and had many interests. In particular, he was a keen ornithologist and tennis player and he enjoyed skiing and skating during his holidays in Switzerland. His greatness and popularity is well mirrored in the numerous and extensive obituaries in British Medical Journal and Lancet, among many. In his native town the youth who had accomplished so much on the other side of the earth was not forgotten. The daily newspaper Geelon Advertiser wrote a long obituary under the title ”Geelong boy who made good in London.” With his friend and mentor, James Collier Adie was responsible for the section on neurology in Price’s Textbook of Practical Medicine.