He was born at Homebush to schoolteacher George Goudie and Caroline Ashton.
After attending state schools he acquired a farm at Birchip, and from 1904 also had a share in storekeeping firms.
From 1895 to 1910 he served on Birchip Shire Council, with two terms as president from 1898 to 1899 and from 1907 to 1908.
On 9 September 1890 he married Alice Maud Watson, with whom he had five sons.
In 1923 he was appointed Minister of Public Works and Mines, a post he held until March 1924 and again from November 1924 to 1927.