Born in 1862 at Kasauli in the Indian Himalayas. He completed his education in England and joined the Royal Engineers where he became an expert in explosives and in 1895 he was assigned to the Western Australian Government to prepare a defence of Albany harbour in the event of an attack by the Russian Navy. About 1898 he transferred to the Western Australian Permanent Army and in 1901 to the Commonwealth of Australia Army. He was a member of the AIF on 18 August 1914. His next of kin, wife Mary Emma and two children, Bede Spence Goadby and Agatha Winifred Goadby then living in Sydney. He was a member of the 1914 Australian Expeditionary Force that sailed to New Guinea to take possession of German Territory. Goadby retired from the military in 1918 at the age of 56 and after several years in Sydney he and his family returned to Western Australia. He was a noted botanist with a particular interest in orchids. He was a member of the Mosman Park Roads Board and the Mosman Park RSL, treasurer of the Lady Lawley Cottages in Gibney St, Cottesloe and a leading figure in St Luke’s Anglican congregation. He resided at Harvey St, Mosman Park. Despite his age, when WW2 was declared he was, for a short term, in command of the Mosman Park Volunteer Defence Corp and. He died on 29 September 1944.
