Joseph was born in Belfast, County Antrim on 13th September 1891 to parents Joseph and Mary, the fourth of six children. On the 1901 census he and his family lived at 6 Northumberland Street, Belfast; Joseph was aged 9 and attending school.
He joined HMS Impregnable on 13th October 1907 as a Boy 2nd Class, rising to Boy 1st Class on 11th September 1908, leaving his job as a rigger and recorded as 5'5" tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a scar on the back of his right hand.
He joined the flagship HMS Sutlej on 13th September 1908, still as a Boy, for 3 weeks before spending 5 weeks at HMS Vivid.
His remaining service follows:-
CRESSY - 30/11/1908 - 28/01/1909
MAGNIFICENT - 29/01/1909 - 15/02/1909
AFRICA - 16/02/1909 - 21/02/1911 - rising to Ordinary Seaman on 13/09/1909 and Able Seaman on 16/12/1910
PEMBROKE I - 22/02/1911 - 11/3/1911
ACTAEON - 12/03/1911 - 22/01/1912
BLENHEIM - 23/01/1912 - 30/09/1913
EGMONT - 01/10/1913 - 03/11/1913
PEMBROKE I - 04/11/1913 - 12/12/1913
ACTAEON - 13/12/1913 - 27/03/1914
PEMBROKE I - 28/03/1914 - 30/03/1914
VANGUARD - 31/03/1914 - 09/07/1917
Joseph was aboard the Vanguard during the Battle of Jutland and after his death was awarded the Star, Victory and British medals which were awarded to his mother.
#17 - 525/843
Sources:
1901 Ireland Census RG14 - Ancestry.com
Ireland, Casualties of World War I, 1914-1922
CWGC Register
British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 National Archives Admiralty: Naval Casualties, War Grave Rolls and Statistics Book, First World War.; Class: ADM 242/009 (1914 - 1919)3
Naval Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1972 ADM 171/ 109
Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 TNA Series: ADM 242/9; Scan Number: 0226
Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, 1848-1939 National Archives Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services; Class: ADM 188/426
Western Front Association; London, England; Pension Record Cards; Reference: 121/0589/MCC-MCC
Photo - CWGC