 He retired from business and from the Court of Common Council in 1889, first to Rotherfield, Sussex, and later to St. Leonards-on-Sea on the Sussex coast, where he died in 1897 at the age of 82.He was described in an obituary as "a man of strong character, very eccentric, and one of the most familiar figures in London".The fate of Bennett's estate is uncertain, with two probate records issued.