Joseph, known as Josh, was born in 1898 of a Quaker family living in King’s Heath, south Birmingham. By trade, he was involved in making small tools for such things as chocolate moulding and gas meter testing. In July 1917 he followed his elder brother Enos in volunteering for the Friends’ Ambulance Unit, which Enos had joined in December 1915. Josh worked as an orderly, or nurse/paramedic, on the 5th Ambulance Train, carrying wounded French soldiers to hospitals behind the lines. He died on 29 October 1918, probably in the worldwide influenza.

He is buried in Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France.