Mander-Jones was educated at Abbotsleigh, a private girls' school in Pymble, New South Wales. She went on to university after finishing school and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1917.

Mander-Jones joined the staff of the Public Library of New South Wales in 1925 and worked her way up through the ranks. She was Mitchell Librarian between 1947-1957.

Based in the Australian High Commission in London, in 1962, she became the first Australian Joint Copying Project Officer. In 1964 she was ppointed director of a survey of manuscripts in Britain and Ireland relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Manuscripts in the British Isles relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, popularly known as the `Mander-Jones guide', was published by the ANU Press in 1972.

After completing the survey of manuscripts in the British Isles, Mander-Jones remained in England for several years. She then returned to Australia and spent her last years in Adelaide compiling Catalogue of manuscripts in the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch) (1981).

Events

1971

Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her service to Australian history

1976

Appointed Honorary Member of the Australian Society of Archivists

1981

Received the HCL Anderson Award, presented annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) for outstanding service to the library and information profession in Australia, to ALIA, or to the theory of library and information science or to the practice of library and information services

1996

The Australian Society of Archivists introduced the Mander Jones Awards for publications in the field of recordkeeping. The award honours Mander-Jones for her contributions to the profession

Sources used to compile this entry: Berzins, Baiba, 'Jones, Phyllis Mander (1896 - 1984)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 2006, http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A170603b.htm; National Library of Australia, Guide to the Papers of Phyllis Mander-Jones, 2002, http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms5652.