Constituency : West Ham South 1885-6
Joseph won the new seat of West Ham South.
Joseph was the son of a glass blower from Warrington. He became an apprentice in his father's trade. He moved to London in 1850 and worked at a glass blowing fir for 35 years. He was secretary of the Glassmakers Trade Society for over forty years. He was a strong temperance advocate who favoured Sunday closing. He once said at a radical meeting in Southwark that " ignorance was better than knowledge in politics.. the educated class always went wrong & masses always right"
In his maiden speech Joseph claimed there was mass working class support in favour of Sunday closing. He supported Home Rule and said "Our Joe has gone completely off the rails".
Joseph was defeated in 1886. In 1891 a private letter to a current MP which criticised Hartington's oratorical skills was made public. The Spectator called him " a very bumptious working man" . He was selected to fight the seat in 1892 but persuaded to withdraw in favour of Keir Hardie of the I.L.P.
He died in 1903 aged 78.
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