Goodall was born in Wells, Somerset, in 1909. In the early 1930s, he visited Canada. Goodall returned in 1935, first to Vancouver, then Alberta, before getting married and settling in Victoria as a commercial artist. He wrote to the Illustrated London News (ILN) asking if they wanted any British Columbia events covered. His grandfather had done illustrations for the ILN of the Crimean War. His first assignment was the aluminum smelter at Kitimat, followed by sketches of famous Canadian universities and schools. Later he was invited to cover Royal Canadian Navy exercises to San Francisco, Southern California and the Hawaiian Islands. He has done watercolours for one of the biggest greeting card firms in North America, as well as other commissions. In March 1947, The Graduate Chronicle featured a University Library sketch by "Ted" Goodall. The Chronicle had commissioned this sketch. Readers were invited to purchase 8 x 5-inch prints from the UBC Alumni Association (March 1947, cover and page 9).