George Pestell was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 17 March 1921. His father George was a bank manager. His mother was Lilian May née Parker. One of his ancestors was the loyalist poet and chaplain to King Charles 1st, Thomas Pestell, and another, Paul Pestell, helped to start the Decembrist Revolution in 1832 and was duly executed by Tsar Nicholas. Another ancestor, James Pestell was indentured to a Mr Chapman of the Bedford Infirmary (these indentures were presented to the College), became a member of the College in 1842, and emigrated to Kyneton, Victoria, in 1863, where he died in 1899. George was educated at Perth Boys School and Perth Modern School, and studied medicine at the Queen's College, University of Melbourne, where he won distinctions, prizes and scholarships in every subject. After qualifying, he became RMO at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, and was appointed surgeon to the Royal Perth Hospital and the Repatriation Hospital in Perth in 1962. He married Texa Berry Marum in 1954. They had a daughter, Jane, and two sons, Mark and Richard, one of whom became Professor of Endocrinology and Molecular Biology at Northwestern University, Chicago. There are five grandchildren. He died on 7 April 2002.