George Ferris was born in Bangalore at the Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital. He as christened George Lawrence Francis and later Benedict after the saint-name. [George, after his father, Lawrence after his maternal grandfather and Francis after his paternal grandfather. He had his early education at St. John's School, Meerut where his father was posted at the Military Hospital. He, along with his two elder brothers, Leslie and Denzyl, used to walk 2 miles each way. On occasion, the would get dropped by tonga, a horse drawn carriage where the passengers sat with their backs to the horse and driver, facing the road behind. This tonga used to bring the nurses to the hospital and if they were ready in time, they got a lift to school.

On the transfer of his father to Lucknow, no suitable school was found for the boys so George (and his brothers) were put into boarding school at St. Peter's College, Agra at the age of 8 years. He soon learned to look after himself, dress himself, polish his shoes, etc. For vacations they went to Lucknow. When returning to school, either their mother would accompany them or their father would depute one of the hospital staff to see that they reached safely. It was as St. Peter's College that he spent 4 years. After that at no school or college did he spend more than 2 years. He had a relatively good time here as all the boys in the boarding house were friendly and helpful. Here they played several games and were also taught how to swim. Once a month they were taken to see some historical place.

Later his father was transferred to Cannanore and he was admitted to St. Michael's where he studied for 2 years - one year as a boarder to complete his middle school examination as his father was transferred after a year to Bangalore. In Bangalore he was admitted in St. Joseph's Boys High School where he did his Junior Cambridge, Senior Cambridge and High School Examination. After completing his high school he was sent to St. Aloysius College in Mangalore for his intermediate after which he returned to Bangalore and completed a B.A degree in Mathematics. Since he wanted to do law and there was no law college in Bangalore at the time, he went to madras and joined the Madras Law College.

He was a good sportsman in school and college and won several trophies. In Madras, he was the inter-collegiate champion in tennis. He also excelled in hockey and athletics.

After graduating from law school, George returned to Bangalore, enrolled in the High Court of Karnataka and joined the Chambers of F.X. Xavier, a leading criminal lawyer at the time. Not liking criminal law much, George gradually moved over to the Civil side and opened his own Chambers in partnership with another colleague who had been his classmate at St. Joseph's College as well as Madras Law College. Later the partnership split up as his colleague moved to Bhadravati where his wife setup her medical practise.

In May 1960, George married Yvonne Saldanha, the eldest daughter of Stanislaus and Marie Saldanha (nee Vas). They were married at St. Patrick's Church in Bangalore. He had four children who all studied in Bangalore and are now settled in Bangalore, Bombay and the US.

After all his children were married and had settled down, George gradually curtailed his practise and for exercise joined the Bangalore Golf Club and started playing golf. In this game too he excelled and won several trophies. George is widely travelled having visited Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, England and USA where two of his children have settled down.