As a defender of Wilde during his trial and imprisonment, Adey visited the fallen author in Reading Gaol, attempted to negotiate on behalf of the gaoled writer's interests as his de facto guardian, and oversaw a collection that was used to purchase necessities of life, including clothes, for him upon his release.
"[3] Adey also developed a professional relationship and 15-year life partnership with Wilde's other good friend, Robbie Ross.
[3][4] Adey became assistant editor of the Burlington Magazine in November 1910, and served as co-editor, in partnership with Roger Fry and Lionel Cust, from January 1914 until May 1919.
[5] Ross's death in October 1918 was a blow to Adey, who wrote in a letter to a mutual friend five days after the bereavement that "no one can ever be to me what he has been".
[4] Ross made his former partner the principal beneficiary of his will,[4] but at an unknown point in the 1920s Adey was overcome by mental challenges and had to be confined in a place of long-term care.