King also lent his hand to drawing and watercolour painting for illustrations, some of which were later used to illustrate his accounts. The result was presented at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in 1831. His eldest son, also named Philip Gidley King, accompanied his father and continued as a midshipman on HMS Beagle (1832–1836) on the continuing survey of Patagonia under Robert FitzRoy, in the company of noted scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). King owned a property at Dunheved in the western suburbs of Sydney where he entertained Charles Darwin on Darwin's last night in Sydney in January 1836. Later life King was appointed to the first New South Wales Legislative Council in 1829, however he was absent from the colony and did not take his seat and was replaced by John Campbell. When King returned to the colony in 1832 he pressed for his reappointment to the council, however he was not re-appointed until February 1839. In April the same year King was appointed resident commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company, a position he held for ten years. King offered to resign from the council on accepting this appointment, but his resignation was not accepted until October. King was again appointed to the Legislative Council in 1850, and was elected as the member for the Counties of Gloucester and Macquarie in 1851 In 1855 King was promoted to Rear admiral on the retired list. King was a Fellow of the Royal Society. King died on 26 February 1856 at North Sydney. Family King married Harriet Lethbridge in 1817 prior to sailing to New South Wales. Harriet died at Ashfield, Sydney, on 19 December 1874. Together they had eight children including : Philip Gidley (1817–1904) stock manager of the Australian Agricultural Co & later a member of the Legislative Council. John (1820–1895) (William) Essington (1821–1910) Rev. Robert Lethbridge (1823–1897) was principal of Moore Theological College in 1868–78. (Charles) Macarthur (1824–1903) Frederick (1825–1895), Arthur Septimus (1827–1899) Legacy King and his crew made valuable contributions had to the exploration and mapping of Australia, particularly the northern and western coasts. Because he and his crew were prepared to risk the danger of going in close to the shoreline, they were able to complete the valuable work of charting the entire coastline of Australia. Recognition King was honoured on the 2-pound postage stamp of Australia in 1963. The Australian native orchid Dendrobium kingianum