From the Sydenham Forest Hill and Denge Gazette. Friday 9 January 1914.

Sydenham Innkeeper's Death.

The sudden death of Charles John Sylvia Flower, age 55 years, a beerhouse keeper, of the "Brewery Tap," Kent House Lane, Lower Sydenham, was a subject of an inquest held by Mr. H. R. Oswald, at Lewisham, on Monday.

Maud Rosina Flower, the widow, said that deceased enjoyed fairly good health, but did not get about much. He was a moderate drinker and would only take a little beer and whisky in the evening. Deceased seemed all right when he retired after closing at 12:30 a.m. on Friday morning. He remained in bed until the afternoon, as he was in the habit of doing so. Witness saw him about 3 p.m., when he said he did not want some beef tea she had taken up. Half an hour later witness went up and found him dead in bed.

Dr. Gibson, Sydenham Road, said that when he reached the house at 3:40 p.m. On Friday deceased had been apparently dead for half an hour. He was a very stout man. A post-mortem examination showed that the heart weighed twenty-six ounces - more than double the normal weight. The Liver weighed 90 ounces, compared with 45 ounces, the normal weight, and the spleen was three or four times the normal weight. The heart was in a state of fatty degeneration, which, in his opinion, resulting from death from synkope.

By a juror:- Deceased was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, which would be due to alcohol.

A verdict of death from natural causes was returned.