He went to
Kelham Theological College in 1929 to train for ordination with the
Society of the Sacred Mission. He was ordained deacon in 1934 and priest in 1935. He served his title at St Michael and All Angels,
Norton, Co Durham (1934–37). Howes went to
Sarawak as a
SPG missionary in 1937. At first Missioner of St Augustine's Mission,
Betong (1937–38), he was then Headmaster of
St. Michael's Secondary School,
Sandakan (1938–40). He was then Priest-in-Charge of Quop (1940–50), but that ten year incumbency masks his experiences of the Second World War. He was interned by the Japanese at the
Batu Lintang camp from Christmas Eve 1941 to 1945. Despite the privations of that experience, he was able to translate the New Testament from Greek into
Land Dayak, writing on the back of labels from bottles and hiding the texts under the floorboards of his hut. In 1963 the
British and Foreign Bible Society printed Howes' New Testament in Dayak. He was Priest-in-Charge of
Tai-I (1950–52) and then the first Warden of the
House of the Epiphany Theological School,
Kuching (1952–56). His next appointment was a non-clerical one. From 1957 to 1960 he was Officer-in-Charge and responsible for the implementation of the
Padawan Improvement Scheme, which brought improvements in education, hygiene and agriculture to villages near the Indonesian border. He was a Canon of Borneo Cathedral (1955–62) and then the re-established St Thomas's Cathedral in Kuching (1962–71), as well as Canon Missioner (1961–71). At the same time he was Archdeacon of Sarawak (1961–62), Kuching (1962–65), and Brunei and North Sarawak (1965–71). He was Principal of the re-founded House of the Epiphany (1971–76) (there was a separate Warden) and then finally Assistant Bishop of Kuching (1976–81). During the colonial period, Howes was a member of the
Sarawak State Council. He was awarded an
OBE in 1961. He appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Star of Sarawak (PBS) when the Order was revived in 1964. He retired in 1981, but when the first indigenous
Bishop of Kuching,
Basil Temenggong, died suddenly in 1984, Howes returned to Kuching to be acting bishop. ==Personal life==