He was the eldest son of Lieutenant George Buist of the 10th Bengal Light Calvary and was born in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, India. After the death of his father at the age of 11, George William Mason Buist was put into the Bengal Military Orphan (Upper) School at Kidderpore, Calcutta along with his younger brother where he spent the next five years. After returning from India he resided with his grandparents at Lawpark in St. Andrews before relocating to Edinburgh where he began working as an engineer. While in Edinburgh he met and later married Grace Muir Johnston in 1857. They had three children who were all born in Edinburgh. The family later relocated to Itapebi in Salto Banda Oriental, South America which is modern day Uruguay. Buist began working on building the railroad in the area. He would return to Scotland in 1878 residing in Peebles, Peeblesshire before returning back to Itapebi in Banda Oriental (Uruguay). This then is the narrative of the life and times of George William Mason Buist.