[2] Murphy was born at Worcestershire, England, to Thomas Jones and his wife Mary Anne (née Nutting) and was educated in Wolverley.

[1] From 1920 until 1929 Jones was an official with the Australian Workers Union which helped launch his career in politics.

In 1932 Burke was abolished and for the next seven years he was an investigation officer with the Department of Labour and Industry.

In 1939, the member for Charters Towers, William Wellington, died of pneumonia and Jones easily won the resulting by-election.

[1] In 1926 he married Margaret Fanny Bennett at St Alban's Anglican Church in Belmore, Sydney, and together they had two daughters.