Towns was born at Bowthorne, near Hinton on the Hunter River, New South Wales, on 19 February 1869.
Towns learned to row on the Hunter River and from an early age was competing in youth events near his home.
So, on the strength of the win, his Newcastle backers were encouraged to think of sending him to England to try to improve and then take the World Title.
This was a fairly daring proposition for a comparatively untried sculler but nonetheless money was raised to allow it to happen.
In the spring of 1901, Spencer Gollan, along with two professional oarsmen, Towns and Tom Sullivan (oarsman), broke the record for rowing between Oxford and Putney along the River Thames.
In November 1900 Gaudaur had expressed a wish to retire and apparently declined to row Towns, and then proposed that he hand the title to another Canadian.
'Out and return' matches were popular in North America as it allowed spectators to see both the start and finish of a race.
On his return to Australia in December 1902 Towns was received by dignitaries in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Newcastle.
Some of the earlier title holders, for example Bill Beach, had had numerous challenges to their position but it would seem that nobody was of the opinion that they could beat Towns and no matches were arranged until 1904.
As this was the first Championship match held in Sydney since 1892 great interest was taken by the public and large crowds we on hand to watch proceedings.
However, Towns rowing steadily gradually reduced the gap and had drawn up level at the mile point.
George Towns accepted a challenge from Canadian Edward Durnan and the race was run on the Nepean River, near Sydney on 2 March 1907.
About ten thousand spectators made the trip to see the two men compete for the World Championship but rain delayed the start until 4.30pm.
There was great excitement for the last half-mile with the boats very even but the challenger tired over the last part which allowed Towns to cross a length or two ahead.
Charles Towns lost the title on his first race when he was beaten by William Webb (rower), a New Zealand man.
George Towns travelled to England where he unsuccessfully defended his English Title on the Thames in October 1908.
After returning to Australia George Towns commenced an oar and scull making business in Sydney near the Parramatta River.
Towns was prominent in rowing associations and clubs and he was instrumental in codifying the rules for the Sculling World Championship as previously it was all fairly laissez-faire.
Nearby streets are named after some of the other Australian World Sculling Champions, vis, Kemp, Searle, Stanbury, and Beach.