Joseph was married with six children when he received his call-up papers. The original conscription act applied to single men aged 18 to 41, but by the time Joseph received his call-up papers, it had been extended to married men. (By the end of 1818, the age limit was raised to 51)

We know very little about Joseph, but we know that he was called up just a few days after the Conscription Act came into force and was one of the first conscientious objectors to face the Military Service Tribunal in March 1916.

Joseph, a tailor and cutter in the employ of the Glossop-Dale Cooperative Society, appealed for exemption on conscientious grounds, and the Co-operative Society also appealed for him on the ground that he was indispensable to their business.

In his written claim, Joseph stated that he objected on moral and religious grounds to combatant service. He believed that human life was one of the most sacred things. Were he to destroy life, he should feel that he had committed one of the greatest crimes that man could commit in the presence of Almighty God.

The Cooperative Society stated that while they did some work for the army, if Joseph was taken, they could not undertake any more work of that kind, and that department would close.

After lengthy cross-examination and deliberation, the tribunal offered exemption from combatant service only. It is unlikely that this would have satisfied Joseph or the Cooperative Society, but our information ends here.

Joseph dies aged 83

Joseph was one of eight conscientious objectors we know of in Glossop.