Educated in Monmouth School, Jones became an Admiralty agent before becoming a colliery director.
Jones began what was to become a long-standing tradition between Welsh rugby and the coal mines, and was the first colliery employee to represent Wales, a list that would run to over a hundred members.
[2] Jones would spend his later life undertaking various duties, including serving as High Sheriff of Glamorgan for 1918 and later governor of the University of South Wales and Monmouthshire.
In 1883, Jones was selected to represent Wales as part of the Home Nations Championship.
Under the captaincy of Charlie Lewis, Jones was one of three new caps for Wales, the others being Newport's Horace Lyne and Dr. John Griffin, a stand-in from Edinburgh University.