Martin Josiah Herbert Goodchild was born on 5 September 1908. He registered as a student with the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1933, however, it is not known where or with whom he trained. By 1937 he had qualified as an architect and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA).
In 1935 he collaborated with the architect Leonard Francis Richards (1906-1986) in a competition to design five-storey flats in reinforced concrete sponsored by the Cement Marketing Company Ltd.
Goodchild's address was given as 39 Stainsby Road, London in 1934; 57 High Street, Bexley, Kent 1935; and “Sunhill,” Knoll Road, Bexley, Kent in 1936 and 1939. He died in Stoke Creek River, Medway, Kent on 13 January 1954. His address at the time of his death was 25 Star Hill, Rochester, Kent
Working Class Domestic Flats in Reinforced Concrete. Report on competition for Designs for Five-Storey Flats. London: The Cement Marketing Company Ltd., 1935 p. 59