called for streets to be properly constructed and the Avon River to be beautified. The election was held on 30 November 1892 at the council chambers. Unlike some other elections, polling day was an orderly affair. George received 403 votes and was elected by a narrow margin, with Thomson and Smith having received 390 and 329 votes, respectively. George was installed as mayor on 21 December of that year. He was 29 years old at the time, and was the youngest mayor up to that time in Christchurch. He advocated for improvements like asphalting the streets, which at the time he was ridiculed for, but many of these measures were carried out over the next decade. At the end of his one-year term, George contested the mayoralty again on 29 November 1893. He was opposed by Thomas Gapes. Gapes and George received 820 and 365 votes, respectively, which represented the largest majority in a Christchurch mayoral election at that time. Gapes was installed as the new mayor at a council meeting on 20 December. He was in conflict with councillors during his mayoralty and at Gapes' installation remarked that councillors should forget him, as he would forget them. Against tradition, he did not add a link to the mayoral chain at the end of his term. He sold his photography business and left for Sydney on 30 December 1893. The mayoralty was his only elected office for Christchurch City Council. Unlike most other mayors, he did not also serve as a city councillor at some other time. In 1906, the following report appeared in the media: The weight of the Christchurch Mayoral chain has now reached 3lbs. It is composed entirely of solid gold shields presented by each of the Mayors on leaving office with the exception of Mr. Eden George. The portrait of that gentleman is also missing from the collection of pictures of the Mayors hung in the Mayor's room. Auckland His time in Sydney was brief, and by 19 March 1894, he arrived in Auckland. He apparently tried to establish an agency for incandescent lamps. He also started canvassing for support for a by-election in the Waitemata electorate, which arose from the election of Richard Monk having been declared invalid. Jackson Palmer and William Massey were also campaigning, and William Joseph Napier received a requisition from electors. George retired from the contest, as the writ was issued