Joseph was the oldest of the three boys he was aged 14 when he was sentenced in 1844. He was a shoemaker but retrained as a farm labourer at Parkhurst Prison. He could read and write imperfectly. He boarded the Thomas Arbuthnot in the Isle of Wight with 88 other ‘Parkhurst Boys’ on the 6th January 1847. The ship must have anchored in Spithead and set sail on the 11th.
The Thomas Arbuthnot arrived at Port Phillip Bay on the 1st May. Joseph immediately obtained employment as a groom with a Mr. Anderson of Geelong.
However, nothing else is recorded about Joseph after his arrival in Australia. The evidences suggests he is the son of Joseph and Mary Ann Williscroft.