41 Facts About Eden George

Ernest Eden George, known as Eden George, was born in New South Wales and came to New Zealand as a young man.

Eden George made his career in photography and was active in Auckland and Dunedin, but mainly in Christchurch.

Eden George had a most difficult year, was soundly beaten at the next election and told councillors that they "should forget him, as he would forget them".

Eden George was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for six years.

Eden George was born in Forbes, New South Wales to photographer and well-known cyclist William Rufus Eden George and Bettina Holme.

Eden George returned to Christchurch; by April 1886, his name appeared in the newspaper again as a Christchurch photographer.

Eden George became embroiled in a series of legal cases between 1888 and 1890, starting with a wages dispute with Karl Gerstenkorn, whom he had met in Sydney in 1888 and hired as a plate maker for his business.

Eden George unwisely alleged Gerstenkorn's involvement in public and was successfully charged with slander.

Eden George sold his photography business to Wrigglesworth and Binns at the end of 1893.

Eden George went to Australia and established new businesses in Sydney and Melbourne.

Eden George married Ada Jane Butler on 31 May 1885 at St Matthew's Church in Auckland.

Eden George died in an aeroplane accident on 12 May 1918 at RAF Worthy Down, England.

Eden George contested the Christchurch South electorate in the 1887 election.

In one of his election meetings, Eden George addressed a large crowd at the Oddfellow's Hall in Lichfield Street, where he was well received by an orderly crowd.

Westby Perceval, Aaron Ayers, Henry Thomson and Eden George were put forward as candidates.

Edward Humphreys beat John Ollivier by a small margin, with Eden George coming a distant third.

Eden George was one of six candidates who stood for election in three-member City of Christchurch electorate in the 1890 election; the others were William Pember Reeves, Westby Perceval, Richard Molesworth Taylor, John Tippett Smith and Edward Wingfield Humphreys.

Eden George came a distant last, receiving 119 votes out of a total of 11,715.

Eden George contested the 1891 by-election for the City of Christchurch electorate against John Tippett Smith and Ebenezer Sandford.

Eden George petitioned against the election, arguing that the nominations for Sandford and Smith were received too late by the returning officer, and he was thus the only person who could have been declared elected.

Eleven candidates, including Eden George, stood in the City of Christchurch electorate and with 1,647 of 32,715 votes, he came last.

Eden George, who had just contested the Christchurch South electorate in the September 1887 general election, was requested by 227 ratepayers to contest the mayoralty.

Eden George declined by basically stating that Louisson was the stronger candidate.

Eden George contested the Christchurch mayoralty at the end of 1892.

Eden George claimed that it was important to elect somebody of wealth, so that he could entertain visitors and citizens beyond what the honorarium provided for.

Eden George received 403 votes and was elected by a narrow margin, with Thomson and Smith having received 390 and 329 votes, respectively.

Eden George advocated for improvements like asphalting the streets, which at the time he was ridiculed for, but many of these measures were carried out over the next decade.

Eden George sold his photography business and left for Sydney on 30 December 1893.

Eden George apparently tried to establish an agency for incandescent lamps.

Eden George started canvassing for support for a by-election in the Waitemata electorate, which arose from the election of Richard Monk having been declared invalid.

Eden George retired from the contest, as the writ was issued too early for him being able to visit the whole electorate; only Massey and Palmer were nominated.

Eden George returned to Sydney in 1895, where he set up a photography business named 'Eden Photo Studios' at 727 George Street, opposite Central railway station.

In 1898, Eden George encountered one of several legal entanglements in which he would become involved over the remainder of his life, when he was sued for libel after advertising that a competitor's photographic development process was one of the "cheapest and easiest" in the photographic trade.

In 1902, Eden George sold all his racehorses, and they did not get a single win in 90 races.

In 1901, Eden George nominated as a candidate for New South Wales in for the Australian Senate in the inaugural federal election.

Eden George addressed a number of public meetings in Sydney's northern districts in support of his candidature, but was not elected.

In 1914, Eden George travelled to Germany to attend his daughter Irene's wedding to a German doctor.

Eden George approached British military authorities to volunteer, but they rebuffed his offer due to his age.

Eden George's offer was accepted, and after a month's training at Versailles, he was stationed at Compiegne.

Eden George served as an ambulance driver for several months until early 1916, when he contracted pleurisy from exposure to bad weather and was repatriated to Australia to recover.

Eden George died on 2 May 1927 at a private hospital in Manly.