Later Life
Dixon lost most of his savings, invested in Turkish stock. On 2 October 1874 his house near Regent's Park, 6 St. James's Terrace, was completely wrecked by an explosion of gunpowder on Regent's Canal. He lost his eldest daughter, and his eldest son, William Jerrold Dixon, to a sudden death in Dublin, on 20 October 1879.
Dixon was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, of the Society of Antiquaries of London, of the Pennsylvania Society, and of other learned associations. Before the close of 1878 he visited Cyprus. There a fall from his horse broke his shoulder-bone, and he was left an invalid. He was revising the proof sheets of the concluding volumes of Royal Windsor and on Friday 26 December 1879, made an effort to finish the work. He died in his bed on the following morning from a seizure. On 2 January 1880 he was buried in Highgate cemetery.
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