George Wilson is the father of Lucy Richards and grandfather of Simon Barlow. Until 2009, he did not know about Simon's existence as he had been estranged from Lucy since his separation from her mother some years before. After his divorce he married Eve and had taken a well-paid job in Berkshire. By 2009, George and Eve lived in a large house in Weatherfield, where he was apparently an influential member of the community, with friends in the council and the police force.
George decided to track down the family he had lost. He learned that Lucy had died but that she had a son, Simon, who was being raised by his dad Peter Barlow and hi Leanne Battersby. On 2nd November 2009, George approached the family and introduced himself as Simon's granddad. Peter was initially annoyed at George for confusing Simon with his sudden arrival but allowed him and Eve to meet Simon properly. George told Peter that he regretted the mistakes he made with Lucy, and attributed his bad parenting to his own poor upbringing by his alcoholic mother. Peter accepted that his intentions were genuine and the Wilsons began to visit regularly.
As he spent time with the Barlows, George came into conflict with Simon's paternal grandfather Ken, who was annoyed at George buying Simon expensive gifts that he couldn't compete with. George's gestures were not limited to toys and games however as he soon offered to pay for Simon to go to Oakhill School to ensure he got the best possible education, and also gave Peter and Leanne a loan so they could open a bar. Ken was worried that Peter, a recovering alcoholic, would be tempted back to drink if he were to run such an establishment. George stood by Peter despite Blanche Hunt telling him about the skeletons in the Barlows' closets, and Ken's measures to rally the community against the new bar. Ken went to see George and Eve at their house and accused George of trying to buy Simon off by paying for his education. George was furious and threw Ken out after weeks of being patient with him. Peter later accepted George's offer.
With most of the construction work at the bar completed, Peter and Leanne threw a hard hat party on 5th February 2010. Under the pressure of socialising, Peter started drinking and was soon paralytic. George and Eve were shocked at his condition and took Simon to stay with them for the night. As Peter continued to drink continuously in the days that followed, George refused to return Simon to his care. George met with the Barlows to discuss Peter, and again opened his wallet to offer to pay for Peter to go into rehab, while Simon would remain with George and Eve.
While Peter was in rehab, George and Eve took Simon on holiday to Spain for a break. When they returned, they were confronted by a temperamental Peter, who had left rehab early and was annoyed about not being consulted about their taking his son away. George wasn't happy that Peter was out of rehab and decided not to return Simon to such an unstable life. When Peter was arrested after breaking into George's house looking for Simon, George made the decision to apply for custody of the boy and to move to Berkshire. On an unplanned day trip to Blackpool to evade Peter, George told Eve that he had been granted a temporary custody order. Although she had stood by him until then, Eve began to have doubts and argued with George. Unbeknown to them, Simon overheard the argument and ran away. After the couple looked for Simon with no success, Eve contacted Peter to let him know what had happened. As the search continued with police help, George was overwhelmed by guilt and was distraught as Simon stayed missing overnight. Fortunately he turned up having made his way home to Rosamund Street himself. George was relieved that Simon was safe and told Peter that he would drop the custody appeal.
While George was keen to retain ties with Simon, Peter cut all contact with George, although he remained the leaseholder of Turners Joinery. In May 2010 George sent flowers to Blanche's funeral following her passing. During the following month, Leanne contacted George in order for him to agree to leasing the unit to Nick Tilsley for his underwear-making business Nick's Knicks, although the arrangement caused friction between Leanne and Peter as he didn't want to risk George trying to see Simon again. Nick eventually bought the property in order to set up The Joinery bar.
List of appearances
2009
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2010