Born in the Auckland suburb of Devonport to parents Rupert and Louise E. Godley, Godley grew up in Auckland and did his BSc at MSc at Auckland University College, followed by service in World War II and a PhD at Cambridge in cytology and genetics under Ronald Fisher.
Appointed in 1906 as Professor of Experimental and Pathological Cytology at the University of Liverpool.
Departmental laboratories include haematology, chemistry, blood bank and cryogenics sections and referred out microbiology, cytology and pathology services as well as diagnostic services including echocardiography, pulmonary function testing, exercise stress testing, radiography, mammography, ultrasound, doppler facilities and fetal monitoring capabilities.
He then served as department head of the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology and Cytogenetics Laboratory, studying quantitative cytology and histology at the teaching hospital of Strasbourg.