Born in Scotland, George Slater came to Melbourne in 1853 as a young man, having had some experience in the book trade in London. He was initially successful as a bookseller and publisher, and published a range of illustrated journals and prints of Melbourne and the goldfields. He edited Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper in 1854.
Slater was forced to sell his businesss around 1858, and after a period as a wholesale bookseller and operating a subscription library, he moved to Brisbane where in 1864 he established himself again, as a bookseller, printer and publisher. Once again the business flourished, and then failed. Slater's wife and infant daughter died within a week of each other, in August 1865.
George Slater was a temperance advocate and a member of the Swedenborgian Church. He founded the New Church Society in Melbourne in the 1850s, and in the 1880s in Brisbane was operating the New Church Book Depot. He frequently lectured in Melbourne and Brisbane on temperance and Swedenborgian philosophy.
In 1882 Slater purchased a share in a homeopathic pharmacy, Henry Leake and Co., at 91 Edward Street in Brisbane. He sold his interest in this business in 1885, to Alfred Field and Co.
Twelve years after his death in 1886 the executors of Slater's estate searched for the creditors resulting from his business failure in Melbourne in the 1850s, as Slater had left provision for them in his will.
