Scottish-born George Rennie Young was the son of "Agricola," pen name of John Young, columnist for the Acadian Recorder in Nova Scotia, who had emigrated to Canada in 1814. He began as a journalist like his father, founding a weekly newspaper in Pictou, the Novascotian or Colonial Herald. He sold this in 1827 and studied law in Britain. Admitted to the Bar in 1834, he joined his brother William in practice in Halifax. He continued to write for newspapers, and in 1848 anonymously published The Prince and His Protégé, an eight-part romantic serial in the Halifax Morning Post. Earlier he also published The British North American Colonies (1834) and On Colonial Literature, Science and Education (1842-- a collection of twelve lectures).
He became involved in politics and represented Pictou County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1843 to 1851. From 1848 to 1851 he served as Minister without Portfolio on the Nova Scotia Executive Council.