George Durnford was born on August 1, 1838, in Toronto, Ontario.

He was a chartered accountant. He was educated in Montreal, Quebec and worked for a ship-building company Loomis & Swell, in Quebec City for two years. Then he returned to Montreal to enter the service of the Upper Canada Bank, eventually moving to Kingston, Ontario where he became manager of the Bank of British North America (1874-1880). Then he again returned to Montreal and set up his own firm of chartered accountancy. He had a very distinguished clientele and remained in Montreal until his death in 1922. He was a member of the Montreal Antiquarian and Numismatic Society and the Historical Landmarks Association. One of the legacies of this interest is an article that he wrote for The Daily Witness, published on September 19, 1896, entitled “Stories of Fifty Years Ago. Old Côte St. Antoine”. In it, he describes many of the old houses along Côte St. Antoine Road and their inhabitants. The text included several delightful drawings by the author. He kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings on various topics, with his own writings, paintings, and drawings, extending from 1896 to 1919. His great-grandson, Michael Ellwood, donated the scrapbook to the Westmount Historical Association in 2007.

In the 1860s, he married Melanie Vardon (1841–1917). He died on December 6, 1922, in Montreal, Quebec.