Lear was the son of Robert Lear, a farmer, and his wife Mary (Meloy) Lear, both from Bucks County. He initially worked as a teacher and store clerk, but also studied law, mostly on his own, and was admitted to Bucks County bar in 1844. He stumped for Polk-Dallas in the 1844 election.^[1] He was appointed the county's Deputy Attorney General in 1848, which he stayed at until the position was superseded by an elected District Attorney.^[2]

In 1845 Lear married Sydney White. They had three children, Henry, Cordelia and Mary.^[3] Henry would become a lawyer.

In 1865, Lear was appointed president of the Doylestown National Bank, which position he kept until his death.^[4] His son Henry was his successor.^[3]

Lear was a leading participant in the state's 1872–73 constitutional convention. In 1875, he was appointed state attorney general, which he served until 1879.

Lear died at home in 1884,^[5] and was buried in the Doylestown cemetery.

• The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. IV. New York: James T. White and Company. 1895.
• Battle, J. H., ed. (1887). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bucks County: A. Warner. p. 861. george lear pennsylvania.
• Davis, William Watts Hart (1905a). History of Doylestown, Old and New. Intelligencer Print. p. 315. george lear.
• Davis, William Watts Hart (1905b). History of Bucks County. Vol. III. New York: Lewis Publishing Company.

• George Lear at Find a Grave