Sir George Harper OBE (24 April 1843 – 12 March 1937) was an English-born New Zealand lawyer.

Embroiled in an embezzlement case by his brother Leonard, he was bankrupted and removed from the bar for five years.

Like his parents, he had a large family; three of his boys were killed in World War I. Harper was involved in a number of community initiatives, clubs and societies, and was knighted shortly before his death.

His parents, four brothers and a sister went to New Zealand in 1856 for his father to take up his role as the inaugural bishop of Christchurch.

[3] He followed them two years later, arriving on the Regina on 15 November 1858; William Rolleston was another cabin passenger.

Together with his eldest brother Henry, they leased the Malvern Hills station from their father for an annual rent of NZ£700.

[1] When the West Coast gold rush started in 1864, there were strenuous efforts made to find a better route between Christchurch and the West Coast than the traditional route over what became known as Harper Pass (named after his brother Leonard).

[10] When Thomas William Maude joined as a partner in January 1881, the firm became Harper and Co.[11] George Harper managed the legal part of the business, his brother looked after the finances, and Maude was in charge of conveyancing.

[14] George Harper and Maude both had their names removed from the roll of the bar by the Court of Appeal in 1894.

During WWI, he founded the Citizens' Defence Corps; the organisation recruited 3,000 men and was looking after the interests of soldiers.

At the first dinner held by the Christ's College Old Boy Association in July 1884, Harper presided.

[20][21] For services in connection with the Citizens' Defence Corps, Harper was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1918.

[25] The Harpers lived in Papanui on Harewood Road opposite the Papanui railway station; the site was later the Sanitarium Health Food factory and, after demolition after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, is now the site of Mitre 10 MEGA store.

[30] Gordon Harper had been nominated by the Reform Party in the Riccarton electorate for the 1914 general election but he withdrew due to the upcoming war service.