In February 1846 Sturt was made Colonial Treasurer, he also received a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society. He went to England and wrote a book "Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia" before going back to Adelaide. He was made a member of the South Australian parliament. He retired from work at the end of 1851 and in 1853 took his family back to England. He asked to be made Governor of Victoria, and later Governor of Queensland, but it did not happen. He died suddenly in 1869, just after being nominated for K.C.M.G., a British knighthood.