James Alexander Stewart

James Alexander Stewart was found dead in the River Thames at Nine Elms.

He was a retired publican and had lived in Lupus Street in Pimlico.

His body was found near Mill Hill Pond Wharf at Nine Elms, Battersea.

His sister said that she had received a telegram from James Stewart three days before he was found dead asking for money, but said, 'I did not accede to his request'.

A friend of James Stewart, who was a lift attendant and who lived in Hugh Street, Victoria, said that James Stewart used to go to the bank every fortnight and draw out £25 and that he smoked 50 to 60 cigarettes a day.

At his inquest a pathologist said that James Stewart's sense of balance could have been affected by a stroke that he had had two years earlier.

The Coroner said, 'There is nothing to show how he came to be in the water', and an open verdict was returned.