George Belcher was born in London on 19th September 1875. He was educated at King Edward VI School in Berkhamsted and studied at the Gloucester School of Art. Belcher contributed his cartoon to Punch Magazine in 1906 and three years later exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1909.

Inspired by the work of Phil May and Charles Keene, Belcher began contributing to The Daily Graphic, The Tatler and Vanity Fair. R.G.G. Price, the author of A History of Punch (1957) has argued that: "He (Belcher) drew the poor as a kindly gentleman who paid them to come and be drawn by him, not, like Phil May, as someone sketching the neighbours".

Cyril Bird described Belcher as "Phil May in chalk" but then went onto say he drew with "simple but beautifully observed linework to which the chalk gave richness and fullness."

George Belcher died at Chiddingfold, Surrey, on 3rd October, 1947.