GOODISSON, Richard John
| Service Number: | 6933 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 December 1916, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, 1876 |
| Home Town: | Warrnambool, Warrnambool, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Caulfield Grammar School |
| Occupation: | Salesman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 June 1918 |
| Cemetery: |
Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme III D 4 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Warrnambool Soldiers' Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Dec 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6933, 24th Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 May 1917: | Involvement Private, 6933, 24th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 11 May 1917: | Embarked Private, 6933, 24th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Richard George and Clara Goodisson; husband of Esther Goodisson, of 19, Aintree Rd., East Malvern, Victoria, Australia.
SEMPER FIDELIS
6933 Private Richard John Goodisson, 24th Battalion (19th Reinforcement Group). Born at Dubbo in 1876, the son of Richard George and Clara Margaret (Paul) Goodisson. Educated at Caulfield Grammar School, Richard married Miss Esther de Quetteville Robin, the daughter of Theophilus and Stella Ann (Ansell) Robin, of North Adelaide (The Argus of Saturday 23 December 1899 noted the wedding: Goodisson-Robin.—On the 21st October 1899, at St. George's, Royal Park (Melbourne), by the Rev. W. Leslie Langley, Richard John Goodisson, fourth son of Richard G. Goodisson, Narre Warren, Bay-road, Cheltenham, to Esther de Quetteville Robin, third daughter of the late Theophilus Robin, Woodville, South Australia.”
Richard and Esther Goodisson had four children, Kenneth Paul (1900), Stella Mary (1902), Bryan John (1907), and Kenneth Muir (1909), Richard was working as a salesman when he enlisted on 4th December 1916, aged 40, and embarked from Melbourne on HMAT A11 Ascanius on 11th May 1917. He had just returned from leave in England when he was killed in action near Albert on 11th June 1918 (five months before the Armistice to end “The War To End All Wars”). He was initially buried in Heilly Cemetery No. 2, three miles north-north-east of Corbie, however at the end of the war he was re-interred in Ribemont Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France, Grave III.D.4.
The Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent of Friday 5 July 1918 remembered the family: “Our Soldiers. Pte. Richard John Goodisson, son of Mr. R. Goodisson, a resident of Dubbo from 1866 to 1877, and mow of Melbourne, has been killed in action in France. Mr. R. Goodisson, sen., was at one time electoral returning officer at Dubbo.”
Esther De Quetteville (Robin) Goodisson was born in North Adelaide on 22nd March 1872, and died in 1950, aged 78 (The Argus of Saturday 5 August 1950 noted her death: GOODISSON.—On August 4th, at the Vicarage, Flinders, Esther de Quetteville, widow of Richard John Goodisson, and beloved mother of Kenneth, Mary, Noel, and Bryan. —Requiescat in pace). Stella Mary Goodisson died in Melbourne in 1956, aged 55, Kenneth Goodisson died in 1984, aged 85, Noel Muir Goodisson died in Heidelberg in 1985, aged 75.
Sources: Blair & Affleck, For King & Country – Great War Enlistments from Warrnambool and District; Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour; National Archives of Australia; The AIF Project; The Argus 23 December 1899; Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent 5 July 1918; The West Australian (Perth) 29 October 1929; The Argus 5 August 1950.
Courtesy of James Affleck 2025