Mr George John Sage was born at 253 Queen's Road, Hackney, London, England on 2 July 1892 and was later baptised on 24 July the same year in St Mark's Church, Dalston.

He was the son of John George Sage (b. 1867), a corn chandler native to Hackney, and Elizabeth Ann Cazaly (b. 1865), a native of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. His parents had married in 1890 and went on to have nine children.

His siblings were: Stella Anna (b. 1891), Douglas Bullen (b. 1893), Frederick (b. 1895), Dorothy Florence (b. 1897), Anthony William (b. 1899), Elizabeth Ada (b. 1901), Constance Gladys (b. 1904) and Thomas Henry (b. 1907).

In the years prior to George's birth his parents had been listed on the 1891 census as residents of 253 Queen's Road, Hackney. The family moved to Norfolk around the turn of the century and appeared on the 1901 census living in Gaywood at the New Inn where his father was the publican. By 1911 the family home was 246 Gladstone Street in Peterborough, Northamptonshire and his father was described as a baker whilst George as a domestic coachman. He was reportedly employed for a while at the Great Northern Hotel in Peterborough.

On 29 April 1911 George and his father boarded the Allan Line's Pomeranian in London, bound for Québec and eventually Winnipeg, Manitoba where they both worked as cooks with the Central Pacific Railway. After some months, Mr Sage and his son had saved sufficient money to embark out in a venture of their own and he purchased a fruit farm at Jacksonville, Florida, which he intended to cultivate for pecans. Whilst there George reportedly became engaged to a local girl whose identity is unknown; his father returned to Britain on 1 September 1911 and George followed two months later.

It was originally intended that the family would travel aboard the Philadelphia but the coal strike forced them to take passage on Titanic instead. After bidding their farewells to many well-wishers the family travelled by train to Southampton and board Titanic on 10 April 1912 as third class passengers (ticket number 2343 which had cost £69, 11s).

It is likely that the family was able to reach the deck shortly before the Titanic went down as there are reports that Stella had got into a lifeboat but left it when other members of her family were unable to join her.

The whole family were lost in the sinking; out of the eleven-strong crowd only Anthony William's body was recovered.