In September 1878, George Double was very much in the news as John Dixon’s foreman, in charge of erecting Cleopatra’s Needle on the Victoria Embankment in London. There, he worked alongside Benjamin Baker, the engineer who designed the cylindrical vessel in which the monolith was towed from Egypt to England —a remarkable voyage accomplished by Captain Booth on the steamship ‘Olga’, and quite a story in itself. He is described in several articles in the press from August to October 1878:
“Mr Double’s practical sagacity and intelligent command of the working party greatly contributed…” “Into the enclosed space around the skeleton structure only those responsible for the safe raising of the obelisk were admitted. Mr Dixon, the engineer, with Mr Baker as chief of the staff, and Mr George Double, as the executive foreman, remained there throughout directing the labours of the 20 or 30 men who worked the winches that served to prevent a too sudden movement of the ponderous stone.”
'The Masonic Intervention' in raising Cleopatra's Needle has been documented in John Hamill's article in 'Freemasonry Today' Magazine, June 5th 2014 : Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823), Freemason and 'father of modern Egyptology' suggested to Pasha Mohammaed Ali that the obelisk, now known as Cleopatra's Needle, be presented to the British government but, due to the prohibitive cost of transportation, nothing happened for many years. The interest of another Freemason, Sir William James Erasmus Wilson (1809-1884), led to the obelisk finally making its journey to England. Wilson was a surgeon who made his name and fortune by specialising in dermatology. One of the first in this field, he wrote a number of works that became the standard textbooks on the subject. Wilson engaged architects to design a plinth and surroundings, to include two sphinxes, to display the obelisk. The foundation stone of the plinth was laid with masonic ceremonies and on 12 September 1878 the obelisk was raised. The whole exercise of transporting Cleopatra’s Needle and organising its final resting place in London cost Wilson almost £10,000.