 William Speirs Bruce was born at 43 Kensington Gardens Square in London, the fourth child of Samuel Noble Bruce, a Scottish physician, and his Welsh wife Mary, née Lloyd. His middle name came from another branch of the family; its unusual spelling, as distinct from the more common "Spiers", tended to cause problems for reporters, reviewers and biographers. William passed his early childhood in the family's London home at 18 Royal Crescent, Holland Park, under the tutelage of his grandfather, the Revd William Bruce. There were regular visits to nearby Kensington Gardens, and sometimes to the Natural History Museum; according to Samuel Bruce these outings first ignited young William's interest in life and nature.
