MILTON BODE
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Milton's parents were William Henry and Elizabeth Bode (nee Austin).

They married on 2nd November 1851 at Edgbaston Parish Church. William was a machinist by trade, his father and brothers all being employed in the gun trade in Birmingham.

Their first child was a boy, William Austin Bode, born at Lower Essex Street in August 1852. He died just 4 years old in 1856.

Next came Harry Cheetham Bode, born at 11 Court Lower Hurst Street in January 1854. He married Elizabeth Coleman in January 1875 and had various jobs including iron and tin plate worker, tobacconist and travelling salesman. He appeared as a witness before the Oxford Election Commission held on 24th November 1880 (investigating possible corruption), before moving to Liverpool in the early 1900s.

Alfred John Bode was born in July 1855, again at 11 Court Lower Hurst Street. This was just down the road from the Back to Backs preserved by the National Trust in Birmingham and so was probably the same type of house. Click here to read about the Back to Backs.
He went on to become an engine fitter/engineer and to marry Alice Emily Hall in August 1882. He lived in Sparkbrook, before finally retiring to Staffordshire in his final years.
"John" (as he was known) was to describe Milton as the black sheep of the family, his own father thinking so badly of him that he would not allow a mention of his name in the house.

Milton was the next in line. He was born in January 1860 at 45 Lower Hurst Street and christened William Ernest.

Finally, yet another son, Arthur Austin Bode was born in 1869. He died in October 1872 at Salop Street, Aston.