George Ainley was born at Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, the son of William Ainley.  He was baptised on 23 January 1803.  

He had moved to Sheffield by 1833, when he appeared in a directory as a shopkeeper and flour dealer at Netherthorpe.  He was also a spring knife cutler, who traded at Broad Lane and then Hollis Croft.  He was bankrupt in 1836, but during the 1840s resumed trading in Hollis Croft.   According to the Census (1851), he employed two men.  A decade later, he lived and worked at Porter Street.  In 1871, he was a spring knife manufacturer at Norfolk Lane; and lived at the back of George Street.  His last directory entry was in 1876, when he traded at Court 14, New George Street. 

He was buried at St Mary’s, Bramall Lane, on 4 January 1880.  The register stated his address as New George Street and his age as 79.