Constituency : Tiverton 1859-65, 1866-72
George was a younger son of Baron Denman. He was educated at Repton and Cambridge where he made his name as a rower and competed twice in the Boat Race in the early 1840s. He became a barrister. He first stood for Cambridge University in a by-election in 1856.
George came into Parliament in 1859 as Palmerston's running mate at Tiverton. In 1865 he was defeated due to the Tory agent successfully managing a false rumour that Palmerston's seat was imperilled. However he got back in at the by-election following Palmerston's death.
In 1869 he was responsible for the Evidence Further Amendment Act which allowed atheists to affirm instead of taking the oath and so give evidence in court. George was in favour of franchise extension and contributed to the great debates of 1867. He told Gladstone straight "we should recognise the fact that , so far as this question is concerned, there is no such thing as a Liberal Party, and that every one is at liberty to act and speak for himself without reference to the convenience of his party". He was also an enthusiastic supporter of the University Tests Bill of 1870.
In 1871 George translated Gray's Elegy into Greek. The following year he was appointed a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and resigned his seat. He became a High Court judge three years later. He went on to publish more translations. He retired as a judge in 1892. Vanity Fair commented "He looked like a model judge. But he was never quite so good a judge as he looked".
He died in 1896 aged 76.
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