Born in Southtown (now a part of Great Yarmouth) in the English county of Norfolk, and from a working-class background, they were both expected to become tradesmen.

[3] Its artists were connected by geographical location, the depiction of Norwich, maritime scenes and rural Norfolk, and by close personal and professional relationships.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, they and other English marine painters were influenced by Dutch and Flemish masters, whose seascapes were as much admired as their landscape subjects.

[7] The Joy children originated from a working-class background: their father was employed for 26 years as a guard on the Ipswich mail coach to and from Great Yarmouth.

[8][9] He was possibly an amateur painter himself,[7][note 1] and the antiquarian John Chambers wrote that "his natural understanding was so excellent, and his knowledge of the powers of mechanism so correct, that... ...he was frequently accompanied ... outside the coach for the sole purpose of gaining information from his conversation".

[11][12] They developed their early interest in drawing there, and sketched the school,[13] the earliest surviving examples of their work being six Select views in the Grounds of Mr. Wright's Academy Southtown Gt.

[6][7] Chambers noted that "he had a room fitted up for them, from which was an expansive view of the ocean, and from which might be seen all the variety of the sublime changes of its appearance, the hues produced on it by reflected clouds, with the ever varying character of the vessels which ploughed its surface".

[20] The brothers' nurturing by Manby caused them to be isolated from other artists, including John Sell Cotman, who lived nearby.

[20] In 1820 their work was exhibited at the barracks, an event which launched their artistic careers,[16][note 3] and which produced comments in the local press for the first time.

Turner, who never seemed to have seriously considered buying the works of painters from the Norwich School except those of John Crome, is not known to have bought paintings from either Cotman or the Joys.

[23] An early attempt to paint in watercolours was their depiction of the yacht HMS Royal Sovereign in 1822, as it passed Yarmouth on its passage to Scotland, George IV being aboard.

[24][note 4] They depicted the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Clarence, visiting his son on board HMS Euryalus at Spithead, which helped to bring them recognition within naval circles.

[24] William, John and their sister Caroline lived in Great Yarmouth for many years, the brothers chiefly producing watercolours.

[25] A number of picture collectors in the town actively purchased contemporary art, including paintings by the Joy brothers.

[19] In 1832 the Joys moved to Portsmouth, to depict the port's various fishing boats for the British Government,[16][34] and to improve their prospects.

[20] According to the English lawyer and historian Charles Palmer, the commissions the brothers obtained helped them to gain a reputation amongst nautical men for the way they accurately depicted the sails and rigging of a ship.

His watercolours and oils have palettes that often include blues, greys, blacks and dark greens, as well as indigo, a pigment which faded over time.

[6] His palette contains delicate sepia and rich ochre tones,[28] his works are less dramatic than his brother's, and he tended to depict human figures more often.

[22] Walpole has described the Joys' later works as "more pictorial", perhaps as a result of being forced to follow the demands of their buyers, or because they had started to exhaust their subject after forty years.

[50] Miller has suggested that the Joys may have found it difficult to adapt to depicting modern coal-powered iron ships, and that their aspirations were more limited than others, such as George Chambers, J.W.