Background
Goodsir-Cullen was born in Kerala, India and educated at Street George"s School, Mussoorie, and Madras University where he qualified as a medical doctor.
Goodsir-Cullen was born in Kerala, India and educated at Street George"s School, Mussoorie, and Madras University where he qualified as a medical doctor.
He played in all five matches as halfback. During World World War II he served as an officer in the Indian Army Medical Corps where he was attached to several different regiments and was posted to Iraq and Palestine on active service. In 1947 the family went to live with Elsie"s mother in Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Ernest had to re-qualify as a doctor at Queen"s University, Belfast.
Goodsir-Cullen continued playing hockey.
At club level he played for Portrush and Queen"s University. He also played for Ulster and was asked to play at the 1952 Olympics for Ireland, 16 years after representing India in Berlin.
Preparations for the Olympics clashed with Ernest"s finals in Belfast, however, so he had to decline the invitation. After finishing his academic work in Belfast Goodsir-Cullen took his family to London where he completed his training at the Westminster Hospital, which he also represented at hockey and, as by far the oldest player, at seven a side rugby where his pace on the wing was an asset.
From London he took his family to Ipswich, Suffolk, where he had obtained a post as an assistant in a general practice.
Goodsir-Cullen was contacted by a fellow graduate of Madras University whose medical practice was looking for another partner. He took his family to Middlesbrough where he worked as a General Practice in the practice for most of the next 35 years. In 1980 Elsie died after a short illness.
Two years later Goodsir-Cullen married Maud Elizabeth Lowe née Spratt, an elder sister of Elsie.
In 1985 they moved to Portstewart where they were both active in golf and bowls until Ernest"s death. Maud died in 2009.