George Bell Timmerman was born in Edgefield County. He was the son of Washington Hodges Timmerman, a Confederate medical officer, Lieutenant Governor and State Treasurer. He was the father of George Bell Timmerman, Jr., Governor and Circuit Judge of South Carolina.
A graduate of the University of South Carolina Law School, he was elected, at the age of 23, as a Circuit Solicitor, an office he held 16 of his 40 years of active law practice in Lexington. His long public career included service as a member of the House of Representatives; Chairman of the Highway Commission; Trustee of the University of South Carolina; and Chairman of the Board of Deacons of his church.
With an extensive civil practice, he also prosecuted and defended in the criminal courts. He also served as a United States District Judge from 1942 until 1963. His simplicity and directness made him always understood. He observed and came to know people and thus tempered justice with mercy. A student of the Constitution, he championed local government and upheld the law.