He was born at Millers Flat, Otago, to storekeeper Ezekiel Johns and Annie Cousins.
He attended Otago High School and qualified as a pharmacist in 1912.
In 1914 he migrated to Sydney, and served with the Australian Imperial Force.
After a year working as a pharmacist in Britain, he returned to Australia, and on 7 April 1920 married Gladys May Fort, with whom he had a daughter.
Although initially a member of the Country Party, in 1945 he joined the Labor Party and was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Gippsland North.