Constituency : Edinburgh East 1899 -1909, Stirling and Falkirk Burghs 1923-4
George took over from the deceased Robert Wallace. He easily beat his Liberal Unionist challenger.
George was born in Aberdeen, the illegitimate son of a housemaid. He was raised by her brother and educated at Lancasterian School, Edinburgh. After starting work as a hatter's apprentice, he became a successful businessman in textiles although he worked hard to conceal his illegitimacy. He became a member of Edinburgh Town Council in 1889. He was chairman of the Finance Committee from 1891 to 1899. He was an elder of the Church of Scotland.
George was knighted in 1908.
In 1909 George resigned his seat to become Vice-President of the Scottish Local Government Board.
In November 1914, George, in advance of conscription, raised the 16th Battalion the Royal Scots including 13 members of the Heart of Midlothian FC Squad. Initially George commanded the battalion on the Western front but he was removed to a reserve unit following poor performance at the Somme. He was also suffering from typhus .He ended the war as a colonel with a D.S.O. medal.
George wanted to return to Parliament to support Lloyd George and was seen as a likely chief whip to replace Neil Primrose. Edinburgh South fell vacant in 1917 but the local Liberals chose an Asquith loyalist instead. Nor was Lloyd George able to find a seat for George in the 1918 election.
Instead George became Chairman of the Scottish Board of Health from 1918 to 1922.
In 1922 George fought Edinburgh Central as a National Liberal but was unable to prevent the sitting Labour MP substantially increasing his majority.
George switched to Stirling and Falkirk Burghs in 1923 and narrowly defeated the sitting Labour MP. The result was reversed in 1924.
He died in 1928 aged 68.
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