Thomas Herbert Goddard CBE BA MB (1885 - 1967)

Born 26 Mar 1885 in Newcastle, New South Wales (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Dagmar Charlotte (Jones) Goddard — married 19 Jan 1916 in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia

Died 17 Feb 1967 at age 81 in Saint Raphaël, Aquitaine, France

Biography

Tommy Goddard CBE BA MB is Notable.

Tommy Goddard CBE BA MB was born in the Colony of New South Wales (1788-1900)

Thomas Herbert 'Tommy' Goddard CBE BA MB was born on 26th March 1885 in Newcastle, New South Wales (Australia). He was the third son of English-born coach painter Alfred Goddard and Irish-born Eliza Cowan. ^[1] He was educated at East Maitland Boys' High School and the University of Sydney, from which he graduated Bachelor of Arts (1904) and Bachelor of Medicine (1914).

He was appointed medical officer to the Mount Bischoff Mine, Waratah, Tasmania, in 1914 and the following year he became resident medical officer at the General Hospital, Hobart.

Tommy married Dagmar Charlotte Jones on 19th January 1916 in St George's Church of England (Anglican Church), Burnie, Tasmania.

In 1915-18 Tommy served as an Honorary Captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps (Militia). Following the war he commenced general practice in Hobart. Shortly afterward, he was appointed honorary physician to the Tasmanian Sanatorium for Consumptives and gradually developed his interest in tuberculosis. Early in 1935 he represented the Tasmanian government at a meeting in Canberra to discuss control of the disease; in that year he also visited centres in Britain, Switzerland and the United States of America to study tuberculosis. He established a chest clinic at the Royal Hobart Hospital in 1937 which provided the foundation for the State's tuberculosis campaign. In 1945 Goddard was appointed State director of tuberculosis. Over the next five years Tasmania introduced a voluntary, then a compulsory, community X-ray survey, and set up a central case register. As president of the local branch of the British Medical Association (BMA), in 1947 Tommy delivered the annual address, providing a comprehensive description of the administration, organisation, logistics and results of tuberculosis control in Tasmania.

From 1915 to 1956 Tommy was a member of the St John Ambulance Brigade and was appointed Knight of the Order of St John in 1945. He was elected president of the Alliance Française in 1925 and in the 1930s, honorary consular agent for France. He had a burning passion for the cause of the Free French during the Second World War. He was honorary medical officer to the Tasmanian Football League and medical officer to the 111th Australian General Hospital.

In 1955 Tommy was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 'for service to philanthropy'. ^[2]

He retired in 1957.

Following his wife's death, Thomas lived with his daughter and son-in-law in Saint Raphaël, Aquitaine, France. He died there on 17th February 1967 and was cremated; his daughter survived him.

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #28733/1885
2. ↑ Australian Honours; accessed 31 Jan 2022

See also

• Millingen, K S. 'Goddard, Thomas Herbert (1885–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1996; accessed online 31 Jan 2022.