 He was elected to the assembly for Comox in a December 1887 by-election held after Anthony Maitland Stenhouse resigned his seat to become a Mormon.Humphreys helped promote the construction of the Lillooet–Burrard Inlet Cattle Trail, built from 1875 to 1877 to provide a more efficient route to coastal markets.Humphreys died in office in Victoria at the age of 50.