William Compston FAA FTSE FRS, was born in Western Australia in 1931. As a child he lived with his parents at his father’s butcher’s shop in Perth. After his father died in 1943 the shop was sold and the family went to visit relatives in Melbourne, becoming trapped there by wartime restrictions on travel to Perth. While in Melbourne Bill was introduced to geology by one of his brothers, who had a science degree in Geology.