Mr Joseph Swarbrick was born in Belfast, Ireland on 7 February 1892. Coming from a Methodist family, he was the son of Joseph Swarbrick, a marine fireman, and Charlotte McCarten. 

His parents hailed from Liverpool and had moved to Belfast only a short while before he was born. The family were listed as residents of Cosgrove Street, north Belfast on the 1901 census but in following years the family would return to Britain.

Joseph later joined the Royal Naval Reserve and served since 1911 with the Belfast Steamship Company.

Swarbrick’s ship prior to Titanic had been the Heroic. He joined Titanic at Belfast for the delivery trip to Southampton where he then disembarked. His elder brother William was also serving on Titanic for the delivery trip.

In 1936 Joseph Swarbrick married Charlotte Bingham, but they had no children. The following year, whilst a greaser aboard the Ulster Monarch, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

CORONATION HONOURS

Two sailors from merchantmen, chosen as representatives of their calling to receive a Coronation honour for meritorious services, were yesterday presented with the medal of the Order of the British Empire by Mr Oliver Stanley, President of the Board of Trade. 

They were Joseph Swarbrick, a greaser on the Ulster Monarch, who has served since 1911 with the Belfast Steamship Co., and George Pearce, a carpenter on the steamship Cairnesk, of South Shields. - Hull Daily Mail - 1 July 1937

Joseph Swarbrick died in Belfast on 20 September 1944. 

He was buried at buried in Carnmoney Main Cemetery, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Section AE, Plot 39).