He was promoted to lieutenant on 14 May 1901, and served with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons in the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902.

He was also sent to the Northern Ireland House of Commons in 1921 as a member for Belfast East, being appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, and was finally elected member for the seat of Belfast Bloomfield in 1929.

Dixon was appointed OBE in 1919 and admitted to the Privy Council of Northern Ireland in 1923.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Government Chief Whip from 1921 to 1942 and as Minister of Agriculture in the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1941 to 1943.

They had five children together: Lord Glentoran died in July 1950, aged 70, and was succeeded in his titles by his son Daniel.