he decided to return to great britain in april 1864. he lived with his sister mary in glasgow, scotland. the royal geographical society asked the south australian government for a pension for stuart, but they said he had been rewarded enough with grants of land. during the debate over the pension it was said that it was not the exploring that had ruined his health, but his drinking habits. he suffered from dementia, and it is possible he also had tuberculosis. he died in london on 5 june 1866 from a stroke and was buried in the kensal green cemetery. only seven people went to the funeral, four relatives, two members of the royal geographical society, and alexander hay, a south australian farmer who was in london at the time. the grave was damaged in world war ii, but was repaired in 2011 by the stuart society and the royal geographical society of south australia.