Born in the parish of St. Margaret's, London, on the 14th of March 1824.
Enlisted at Heston on the 13th of January 1842.
Age: 18 years 6 months.
Height: 5' 9".
Trade: Bricklayer.
Appearance: Fresh complexion. Hazel eyes. Dk. brown hair.
From Private to Corporal: 24th of July 1850.
1851 Census
Queens Barracks, Saint Matthew, Ipswich.
John Joseph, married, 27, Corporal 11th Hussars, born Middlesex.
Corporal to Sergeant: 1st of April 1853.
Appointed to Troop Sergeant Major on the 25th of September 1854.
Deprived of rank, and to Sergeant: 5th of January 1855.
Restored to the rank of Troop Sergeant Major on the 1st of May 1855.
Reduced to the rank of Sergeant: 25th of November 1855.
Discharged from Hounslow on the 12th of April 1857, upon "Reduction of the Regiment and having completed 14 years service and being in possession of two Good Conduct badges; under the terms of the provisions of the Royal Warrant, of the 24th of May 1847." Although not specified, this would imply that he would be entitled to a deferred pension upon reaching the age of 50 years.
Served 14 years 351 days. In Bulgaria, 2 months and in Turkey and the Crimea, 1 year 10 months,
Conduct: "good". In possession of two Good Conduct badges when promoted.
Aged 32 years on discharge.
He received his "deferred" pension on the 15th of July 1874.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.
Rode on the left of "E" Troop at Balaclava. Sergeant Major George Loy Smith mentions riding with him as "the only two left riding as Serrefiles". He may possibly have died before 1875 as no trace can be found of his ever being a member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society or of ever having attended any of the veterans' functions.
In an article by Colin Johnson Robb that appeared in the Belfast Telegraph on the 24th of October 1954 he is mentioned in the following terms:
"Troop Sergeant-Major Josephs of the 11th Hussars (the Cherry-pickers) was a Belfast man who received a sabre cut in an encounter with a Russian officer, but he remained in his saddle and in the absence of a commissioned officer took command of a troop, or the remains of one — in the very heat of the battle. It was he who presided at the first anniversary dinner held in a hut on the battlefield of the Crimea in 1855. The function commenced at seven o'clock in the evening and upwards of fifty Balaclava heroes were present."
[RM: See Soldiering in Sunshine and Storm, by William Douglas, 10th Hussars, published in 1868, where he relates this event in great detail.]
[PB: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008861349]
Census information for 1851 kindly provided by Chris Poole.