After the death of his father and his own marriage, the care of his mother and younger brother devolved on Knight, and this, coupled with increasing bad health, led him to abandon art as a profession. He died at West Lodge, Piddle Hinton, Dorset, on 14 May 1859. His works were favourably noticed by Henry Fuseli, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and other competent authorities. A neighbour and intimate friend of Knight's was Thomas Rackett the antiquary, rector of Spetisbury, Dorset.
