George was the second child and first son of William and Sarah Manwaring and was born at Cranbrook on the 2nd November 1831. He was baptised at St Dunstans Church, Cranbrook on 22nd January 1832.

George grew up in Cranbrook and apparently attended school there. He is listed in the 1841 Census as living with his parents at the Hill at Cranbrook. As he grew older he followed his father in working on the land and is listed in the 1851 as an agricultural labourer and living with his parents at Golford Green just east of Cranbrook.

On the 13th September 1851 at St Dunstans he married Mary Stanley, the daughter of Stephen and Mary Stanley of Stream Farm, Cranbrook. The witnesses to the marriage were George's brother Thomas and his wife Harriett.

Their first child Louisa Ann was born on the 30th December 1851 at Cranbrook. They had two other children before they emigrated to Australia, Mary Jane born on 5th August 1853 and Ellen on the 8th October 1855. On 3rd December 1855 their first child Louisa Ann died but the cause of death is unknown.

On 9th March 1857, with their two daughters, Mary Jane and Ellen, George and Mary left Southampton board the Anna Maria bound for Australia.

Little is known of their whereabouts in the first few years after their arrival in Australia. Their first son, George was born on 20th November 1858 at "Negoa" near Muswellbrook. At this time "Negoa" was owned by John Hobart Cox, his family having owned the land since the late 1820's. On his son George's birth certificate George's occupation is listed as labourer so we assume he was working for John Cox as a farm labourer at this time.

We know that they travelled to Bungendore and lived in the township for over ten years. It is not known exactly when they arrived in Bungendore but their fifth child, Thomas William, was born there on 12th December 1860. George's father, William, had previously bought two blocks of land at Halfway Creek and it is assumed that George, Mary and family lived with the other members of the family while at Bungendore. George, together with his father had leasehold land at Bungendore and worked this land for the decade that they were in the district.

The remainder of George and Mary's children were born at Bungendore, Alfred Stephen on 7th October 1862, Edwin on 10th October 1864, Sarah Ann on 8th March 1867, John Francis on 11th April 1869 and Elizabeth on 28th April 1871. On 3rd September 1866, their son Edwin passed away at the young age of one year and eleven months and is buried at Bungendore.

While living at Bungendore, George and Mary were active in community activities. Their children attended Bungendore Provisional School with their sons George and Thomas participating in inter-school cricket competitions. Their two eldest daughters Mary Jane and Ellen went to school here and grew from girls into young women. They met their husbands and were married while living here, both in 1872, Mary Jane to John Donoghoe and Ellen to William Fitzgerald.

Around the year 1873, the family heard about land being open for selection across the mountains in the Cootamundra - Gundagai area of New South Wales so George travelled the long journey by horseback to see what the area and land was like, and to ascertain whether the stories were true and selection of land in that area was possible. It is not known for sure but it is assumed that his father William and possibly His brother Edmund travelled with him as both also selected land in this area.

Because the opportunities for selection of land in this area proved to be very good indeed, not long after, George's family, together with his mother and father, and brothers Edmund, Alfred and Edwin travelled from Bungendore to this area, known as the Kyron district, situated half way between the towns of Cootamundra and Jugiong.

George selected two portions of land in 1873, one 40 acre and one 100 acre block. He called his property Cranbrook in recognition of where they came from in England. When the family first arrived there, George and his sons would have built a temporary hut to provide shelter for the family until a more permanent home could be built.

George and his sons cleared the land and worked hard to shape the land to how it is today. He eventually built a home for his family, a wattle and daub dwelling, down by the creek and by 1882 George had acquired 1110 acres of land which he worked with the help of Mary and his children.

George and Mary were very devout followers of the Anglican Religion and church services were held at George and Mary's home with the minister travelling from Gundagai to conduct the services. All the Manwaring families assembled at George and Mary's home for the services and were very a special time for everyone but because of the isolation of the area and the distance from the nearest town, the services were held infrequently.

Mary only lived another eight years after moving to this area with her family and, tragically, passed away on 17th May 1882 at the relatively young age of 52. Her youngest daughter Elizabeth would have only been eleven years old. She was buried at the Church of England Cemetery at Jugiong.

George was a dedicated family man, caring for his wife and children and enjoying helping his friends and relations living in the Kyron area. He was one of the promoters for the establishment of the Provisional School that was eventually established there in 1886. He loved looking after his family home and spending a lot of time in the garden of his home at Cranbrook.

As he got older he left the running of the property more and more to his sons George, Bill and Jack much preferring to tend his orchard on the banks of the nearby creek and giving apples and fruit to the many children who travelled by his home to attended RoseHill School that was built on his father's land on the other side of the creek.

I have been told that George was very ill at one stage of his life with very bad fever and as a consequence of this illness he lost all his hair and beard. From then on he always wore a wig. How true this story is we will probably never know.

George lived another 32 years after his wife Mary had passed away and after an illness that lasted six weeks he himself passed away at the Retreat Private Hospital, Cootamundra on the 10th July 1913 at the age of 82. His death certificate states the cause of death as being senile decay and heart failure. He was buried with Mary on the 12th July 1913 at Jugiong, the Reverend H. F. Champion officiating.