Mr Joseph Brown was born in Newcastle, Northumberland, England, around 1882. He was the son of Joseph Brown. Few details are known about his early life.

He was married in London on 30 April 1908 to Lottie Syme (b. 23 April 1886 in Poplar, London, daughter of James Hall Syme and Charlotte Sorrell) and they had one child, a son named Joseph James, who was born in Canning Town, Essex on 8 April 1910.

His wife and child appear on the 1911 census living at 134 Percy Road, Canning Town, Essex, the home of his widowed father-in-law James Syme, a retired engine fitter; Joseph is not listed and was presumably at sea at the time.

Brown was engaged as a substitute fireman for the Titanic's maiden voyage and came aboard on 10 April 1912, giving his address as 237 Desborough Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire and his previous ship as the Oceanic. As a fireman, he could expect monthly wages of £6.

Joseph Brown died in the sinking, and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

His widow Lottie remarried in 1915 to French polisher William J. Brown (b. 25 October 1882), a native of Hoxton, London; between 1916 and 1925, they had eight children: Esther Violet, Elsie Gladys, Charlotte, Thomas, Jemima, William, John and Ronald. Lottie died in Essex in 1962 at the age of 76.