George Lawton was born in Cranfield, Bedford, England in September 1607, the son of George Lawton & Isabel Smith. He married in England, before 1636, Mary Hopkins, but she died in England before 1638. He arrived in New England with his brother Thomas before 1638. In that year he was admitted as an inhabitant of Aquidneck, Rhode Island. On April 30, 1639, he was one of the incorporators of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. On January 25, 1648 he was given a grant of forty acres of land there. He was later granted 20 acres of land on the east side of east main road in Portsmouth near the present Town Hall and near land of his brother Thomas Lawton. He also owned land on the Wading River where he built a mill, and land on the east side of the road opposite his mill. This area on the west main road in Portsmouth was later called Lawton's Valley.

Sometime around 1643, he married Elizabeth Hazard, the daughter of Thomas Hazard and Martha Potter. Elizabeth was much younger than George, having been born about 1626. The couple had ten children, all born in Portsmouth. In 1648 he was a member of the Court of Trials in Portsmouth. He was one of the original settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island in March 1661/62. He served as a Deputy to the General Assembly in 1665, 1672, 1675, 1676, 1679 and 1680. In 1676 he was named one of the colonies “Most judicious inhabitants” and was asked to give the Assembly advice during King Philip's War. He was Assistant to the Governor 1680 to 1690.

George wrote a will in which he mentioned his wife, sons Robert, George and Job, daughters Mary wife of John Babcock, Isabel wife of Samuel Albro, Elizabeth wife of John Sikes, Ruth and Mary (Mercy). In 1684, he rewrote the will, this time leaving out Mary and Isabel, mentioning Elizabeth as the wife of Robert Carr, Ruth as the wife of William Wodell and Mercy as the wife of James Tripp. George died on October 5, 1693 in Portsmouth and was buried in his orchard at Portsmouth, Rhode Island.