Sir George William Ross was born on September 18, 1841, in Nairn, Ontario.

He was an educator and politician. He worked as a schoolteacher, a school inspector, and a newspaper publisher before he got into politics. He also studied law, starting in the early 1870s, and in 1883, he received an LL.B. from Albert College in Belleville. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal in the 1872 election and was re-elected in 1874 and 1878. In 1883, he was appointed Ontario's Minister of Education and, he served as the 5th Premier of Ontario from 1899 to 1905. He remained the leader of the Liberal Party until 1907 when he was appointed to the Canadian Senate. In 1910, he was knighted by King George V for his public service in both federal and provincial politics. He wrote two books on his political life, "Patriotic Recitations and Arbor Day Exercises" (1893) and "Getting Into Parliament and After" (1913).

In 1862, he married Christina Campbell (-1872), in 1875, he married Catherine Boston (1847–1902), and in 1907, Mildred Margaret Peel (1856-1922). He died on March 7, 1914, in Toronto, Ontario.