Edward Soames was born in October 1891 in Lambeth, Surrey. He married Agnes Fanny Darbyshire in 1913 in Victoria. He was, along with father-in-law Henry Darbyshire, a founder of Footscray FC, the forerunner of Northumberland and Durham.
Arriving in Palestine in early 1916, Private Soames was soon promoted to Corporal and seems to have spent much of the war in England.
Returning to Australia on 6 May 1919, he resumed playing with the club. He died on 20 July 1957 in Victoria at the age of 65.