He was educated at Midleton College[1] and then attended Queen's University, Belfast where he studied medicine and became a Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Hall of Ireland.

In 1886, he qualified as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh gaining the gold medal for merit, achieving the highest pass in the examination.

In 1911 he was once again appointed as the resident surgeon at the Maryborough General Hospital but took a leave of absence at the outbreak of World War I and joined the army.

[5] Garde, representing the Ministerialists, won the by-election held in 1902 for the seat of Maryborough in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

[6] Garde only represented the electorate for two years, being defeated at the 1904 state election by the Labour pairing of William Mitchell and John Norman.