He was an
unofficial member of the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong on multiple occasions for decades. In June 1917 he was appointed an unofficial member on the Legislative Council during
Henry Pollock's leave, again in October 1918 for
Edward Shellim, and as a substitute for
Robert Gordon Shewan in March 1919 and January 1920. He again served on the Legislative Council from 1936 to 1941. In April 1936, he was appointed for a four-year term on
William Shenton's resignation and was reappointed in April 1940. Dodwell was also a member of the
Executive Council numerous times. He was appointed on Henry Pollock's absence in October 1936, July 1938, and September 1940, and on
J. J. Paterson's absence in March 1939 and March 1941. He was also a member of the Medical Board, the Authorized Architects' Committee, and the Board of War Taxation, which the government set up for raising revenue for the war preparation on the eve of the
Pacific War. Dodwell, however, strongly opposed the new Income Tax Bill presented by the Hong Kong Government. He feared the new taxation would drive out industrial enterprises and capital and prevent new ones from coming in, and the tax collecting would be too costly. He demanded some amendments of the bill and asked for an enquiry into the wartime departments to be set up for providing jobs for senior and former government officials. Dodwell was part of the
Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps. He lived in
Perth,
Australia during the war and became the chairman of the East Asian Residents' Association, which consisted of Far Eastern residents who had fled from the Japanese-occupied territories. He stationed in London for the Dodwell & Co. after the war. ==Personal life==