George Wilson 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 . Since his divorce , he had married Eve and 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 dad Peter Barlow and 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 mansion 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 owner of the Turners Joinery property . In June 2010 , George agreed to lease the unit to Nick Tilsley for his underwear - making business , after Leanne contacted George to request it , although it caused friction between Leanne and Peter as he didn ' t want to risk George trying to see Simon again . List of appearances . 2009 2010