Joseph Charles King was born on 29 August 1890 in Priors Marston, the second son of Joseph and Maria King. He had seven siblings. The family had moved to Stoneleigh by 1895 and by 1901 were living in Vicarage Road. In the Great War Joseph (or Charlie as he was usually known) served in France in the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, but after a gunshot wound was transferred to the Military Police and served in Ireland until 1919.
On 25 October 1917 he married
Ethel Walker at St Mark's Milverton. She was a Milverton girl, the daughter of Edward and Maria Walker, and they went to live in Leamington.
Joseph died on 30 June 1980 aged 89 and was buried at Stoneleigh on 3 July. His wife Ethel had died ten years previously, aged 82, on 13 September 1970. They are buried together at Stoneleigh.