[2] On 19 July 1911 Dewar married Gladys Katherine Plunkett (1885-1972) at St John’s Church, Hobart, Tasmania,[3] and they had one son, Richard John Gresley Dewar (1916-1991), who served as the aide-de-camp to the Governor of Tanganyika, Sir William Denis Battershill, after the Second World War.

[4] In January 1924 he took up an appointment as Acting Assistant Surveyor-General in Kuala Lumpur, where in 1930 he undertook a detailed review of the department, resulting in a complete restructuring of its operations.

[5] Dewar was awarded a Commander of the British Empire in the 1938 New Year Honours, for his service in the Federated Malay States and Straits Settlements.

At the end of World War II the Colonial Office invited him to return to Malaya and undertake a review of the Survey Department, in particular their land titles area.

Following which he returned to Callander before moving to Tasmania, and then to England, where he resided at Flat 3, Castle Mount, St. Valerie Road, Bournemouth until his death on 12 April 1964, at the age of 80.