William McLachlan Dewar
Dr William McLachlan Dewar CBE FRSE FRSA DLit was a Scottish writer and educator who served as Headmaster of George Heriot's School from 1947 to 1970. Tam Dalyell, a former pupil, described him as a "fierce headmaster" in his autobiography.Life
He was born on 19 April 1905 in Crieff in Perthshire the son of James McLachlan Dewar and Annie Kempie Cuthbert. He was educated locally at Morrison's Academy. He then studied Classics at the University of Edinburgh graduating with an MA.
His first role as Headmaster was in the 1930s as Rector of Greenock Academy before gaining the prestigious role of Headmaster of Heriot’s in 1947.
During the Second World War he trained Scottish Air Cadets as Pilots. He received an OBE for this work in 1955. In 1958, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Hugh Bryan Nisbet, Isaac Arthur Preece, Maurice George Say and Walter George Green. In 1970, he received a CBE on his retirement, for services to Scottish education. The University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Dewar also received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1970.
He died on 16 September 1979.Family
He married Mary Sinclair Anderson in 1935.
