Was the fourth child of the Rev. Peter Bellinger Brodie, M.A., of Worcester College, Oxford, Rector of Winterslow, Wilts, by Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Collins, Banker and printer, of Milford, near Salisbury. The Brodies were originally a Morayshire clan, and the family was fortunate in relations.

Born 19 June 1869 at Hogsthorpe, Lincolnshire, son of Robert Addison, a farmer, and Susan Fanthorpe his wife. He was educated at Trinity College, Harrogate, and St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he was later demonstrator and lecturer in anatomy. He qualified in 1891 and took the Fellowship in 1895. H