Joseph was born on 24 January 1899. His parents were Joseph and Alice, married in 1894. Joseph was baptised on 6 April 1899 in a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, but it is unclear whether or not this was the chapel in Moore. He had two sisters, Winifred and Alice.
In 1901, his father was a teamster on farm in Keckwick, probably Crow’s Nest Farm. But ten years later, the family had moved to Poplars Farm, Keckwick, with Joseph senior, now describing himself as a farmer.
Joseph joined the Yorkshire Hussars Yeomanry, service number 66378, and became a lance corporal. Nothing more is known about his military service.
He married Doris May Barber in 1939 in the Bucklow area of Cheshire. They had no children. They lived in St Helens, where Joseph was a bank cashier and an ARP warden with the Lancashire Constabulary.
He died in Lancaster in 1978.