Soames made his first-class debut for Sussex against Hampshire at the Green Jackets Ground, Winchester, in 1875.
[2] His 17 runs all came in the first-innings of his first match against Hampshire, thereafter he failed to score in four consecutive innings.
According to Scores and Biographies, "[he] is a good average bat and fields well at long-leg or cover-point.
His father had been a prosperous Russian merchant and partner in Wilkie & Soames, soap makers.
[4] He married (Caroline) Louisa Jackson,[5] the daughter of a Manchester merchant, by whom he had nine children, including Jack Soames, of Bergeret, Nanyuki, Kenya (today the Soames Hotel), a notorious member of the Happy Valley set who was called as a witness in the Lord Erroll murder trial.