[1] The name of his business was George and Walton and they operated at 214 Colombo Street,[2] which was located in the central city opposite Victoria Square.
[3] The photography studio was purpose-built and they first advertised their services as 'American Photographers' in The Press on 30 November 1883,[4][5] and on occasions flew the American flag at their office.
[7] He moved to Auckland[8] and set up a branch of the Melbourne photography business Tuttle & Co in Upper Queen Street.
[11] 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.
Their legal battle escalated when George claimed his studio had been ransacked by an intruder; speculation attributed this either to Gerstenkorn, or rival photographers, or Eden himself seeking insurance compensation.
Westby Perceval, Aaron Ayers, Henry Thomson and George were put forward as candidates.
[28][29] The resignation of Sir Julius Vogel caused the 19 June 1889 by-election in the Christchurch North electorate, contested by three candidates.
Edward Humphreys beat John Ollivier by a small margin, with George coming a distant third.
[34] George contested the 1891 by-election for the City of Christchurch electorate against John Tippett Smith[32] and Ebenezer Sandford.
Charles Louisson, who had contested the most fiercely fought mayoral election in Christchurch thus far and had only been narrowly beaten by Ayers in 1886, decided to stand again.
[47] A meeting where the three candidates all addressed electors was held the evening before election day and chaired by the current mayor, William Prudhoe.
In his speech, George was critical of the use of council funds, called for streets to be properly constructed and the Avon River to be beautified.
[53] Gapes and George received 820 and 365 votes, respectively, which represented the largest majority in a Christchurch mayoral election at that time.
It is composed entirely of solid gold shields presented by each of the Mayors on leaving office with the exception of Mr. Eden George.
[62] He also started canvassing for support for a by-election in the Waitemata electorate,[63] which arose from the election of Richard Monk having been declared invalid.
[65] 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.
[67] He returned to Sydney in 1895, where he set up a photography business named 'Eden Photo Studios' at 727 George Street, opposite Central railway station.
Initially a Progressive, he withdrew his support from Premier Sir John See in 1902 and was endorsed by the Liberal Reform Party in 1904.
He deposited the amount of £800 (for the couple's wedding present) in a German bank, then accompanied his daughter to London for a holiday.
Instead, George purchased a motor car, which he converted into an ambulance and donated to the French authorities, also volunteering to drive the vehicle.
He 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.
[76] In 1918, George and his wife were en route to England to visit their son Leslie, who was serving as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, however Leslie was killed while flying shortly after his parents' departure from Australia, and there was concern that they would not be informed of his death until their arrival.