George Rankine was one of the four sons of John Rankine of Bantaskin and grandson of John Rankine of Barns. By 1817 he lived in London and at his death in 1850 he had been living at Havening Grange, Essex. His will was challenged by his elder brother John as it left heritable property to his other surviving brother, Robert. George's will was deficient in form to carry heritable property in Scotland with the result that Robert did not receive it and John, as the eldest brother, did.

George had two sons, William Henry Rankine and James Anderson Rankine. William was an engineer, working first in Falkirk, then at the Naval dockyard in Chatham and then returning to Falkirk. He died in 1912 leaving a liferent to his wife Helen Dobbie or Rankine. When she died in 1922 the remaining Falkirk property was sold by the fiar, Col Robert Rankine (Australian Army) of Dunmore, St Kilda, Melbourne.