Mr Joseph Groves Boxhall was born in Hull, Yorkshire, on March 23,1884. He was the second child of Joseph and Miriam Boxhall, and had two sisters who survived into adulthood (a third sister died in infancy). The Boxhall family had a strong seafaring tradition; his grandfather had been a mariner, his uncle was a Trinity House buoymaster and Board of Trade official, and his father, Captain Joseph Boxhall, was a well known and respected master with the Wilson Line of Hull. On 2 June 1899 Joseph Groves Boxhall joined his first ship, a steel hulled barque sailing from Liverpool and belonging to the William Thomas Line. During the course of his apprenticeship he sailed to Russia, the Mediterraenan, North and South America and Australia. In July 1903 he obtained his Second Mates Certificate, and very soon afterwards joined the same shipping company has his father, the Wilson Line of Hull. In January 1905 he passed the examination for his First Mates certificate in Hull. After further sea time, he studied for his Masters and Extra-Masters certification at Trinity House in Hull, and passed these examinations in September 1907, and in November joined the White Star Line. During the following few days Boxhall assisted with preparations for the vessels trials and once these had been completed he accompanied her on the short voyage to Southampton arriving there just after midnight on April 4. On the day of departure Boxhall was on the navigating bridge, working the engine room and docking bridge telegraphs on orders from Captain Smith and the Trinity House Harbour Pilot George Bowyer . Once at sea Boxhall settled into his role of regular watches, navigation and assisting both passengers and crew. Boxhall returned to the bridge after a fifteen minute inspection and reported back to the Captain that he, at least, could find nothing awry. Smith then sent Boxhall to get the Carpenter to sound the ship but as Boxhall left the bridge joiner John H. Hutchinson (it may have been carpenter J. Maxwell ) rushed past him, he exclaimed that the forward compartments were filling up fast. The joiner was soon followed by Postal Clerk John Richard Jago Smith who informed the Captain that the lower mail sorting room on the orlop deck was also filling up with water. Boxhall was then sent to fetch Second Officer Charles Lightoller and Third Officer Herbert Pitman . The two officers had already been out to see what had happened but had returned to their cabins to await orders. Boxhalls next task was to work out the ships position. After he had done so Captain Smith went to the wireless room and ordered First Marconi Operator Jack Phillips to send out a call for assistance. At 12.45 a.m. Boxhall and quartermaster George Arthur Rowe began to fire rockets from an angled rail attached to the bridge. Rowe continued to do so until the rockets ran out around 1.25. Whilst Rowe was thus engaged Boxhall scanned the horizon, he spotted a steamer in the distance, he and Rowe attempted to contact the vessel with a morse lamp but they were unsuccessful. At one point Boxhall sought reassurance from the Captain and asked if he felt the situation was really serious, Smith replied that the ship would sink within an hour to an hour and a half.
Boxhall was put in charge of Lifeboat 2 which was lowered at 1.45am. After the Titanic had gone down he asked the ladies in the boat whether they should go back to help swimmers out of the water, but they said no. The boat was less than two thirds full. During the night Boxhall periodically set off green flares and also rowed. Around 4.00 a.m. the Carpathia was sighted and Boxhall let off a final flare to guide the ship to them. When he finally clambered aboard the Carpathia he was ordered to the bridge and there informed Captain Rostron that the Titanic had gone down at about 2.30 a.m.
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