Born: October 30, 1840, Stoke Newington, London, England.
Christened: November 23, 1840, Islington, Middlesex, England.
Died: June 20, Woking , Surrey, England.
Buried: Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone, Kent.

Joseph was the son of minister Samuel Ridsdale and Juliana Marshall, and husband of Rosamond Penelope Woodward (married 1875, Elham, Kent, England).
He studied at Caius College, Cambridge, graduating in 1874.