J. Braxton Hicks, an unpretentious physician, a great teacher of obstetrics and gynecology, and a devoted parishioner of the Church of England, was born at Rye in Sussex, the son of a one-time banker and chairman of the bench of county magistrates.1 For three years, Braxton Hicks was a private pupil of the Reverend J. O. Zillwood of Compton Rectory. Subsequently he was apprenticed to a medical practitioner in his home town, and at the age of 18 entered Guy's Hospital as a medical student. His brilliant scholarship was quickly recognized, and in proper time he took prizes in anatomy, materia medica, practical chemistry, and botany, and won a medal in sports for double sculling. The degree of bachelor of medicine at the London University was granted in 1847, with honors in each subject plus a gold medal in materia medica. Soon afterwards he qualified for the diplomas of