The son of Benjamin and Rosanna Allcock, Joseph was born in Wolverhampton on 11 March 1897. He was baptised at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Bilston, on 11 April 1897. In 1901, they were living at 53 Back Temple Street, Bilston, along with Joseph’s siblings Mary, Samuel, Nellie, Harriet, Rose, Benjamin, William and James. They were at 10 Stafford Street, Bilston, in 1911, and Joseph was listed as “working on a machine” in the Holloware industry. There were three more children – George, John and Caroline.

Joseph enlisted with the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment (service number 9208), first serving as a Private and later a Sergeant. He was killed in action in Belgium on 6 October 1917. He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium, as well as on the Bilston Town Hall Ward Roll of Honour.

His brother, William Henry, was born in 1899, and also baptised at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Bilston on 29 January 1899. William enlisted in the 1st/5th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers (service number 50312). Unfortunately, he was wounded, and died of those wounds in France and Flanders on 7 October 1918. He is buried at the Beauvois-en-Cambresis Communal Cemetery in France, and is also remembered on the Bilston Town Hall Ward Roll of Honour.