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Nick's grandfather became known as 'the man who shot Hess'...

George Simpson, Nick's Grandfather, one of the first paparazzi c.1950

Having become a father himself five years ago, Nick has become interested in filling in the grey areas of his childhood and family. Nick's dad died when Nick was six, and his grandfather earlier than that.

This grandfather was George Simpson or "that man Simpson" as Queen Mary styled him. He was born in 1898 into a staunch working-class family and was to become perhaps the first paparazzo, being described in his obituaries as "the man who shot Hess".

Nick is particularly interested in George because he has no memories of him and his mother used to say as he was growing up that he was "just like his grandfather".

Nick has always felt that there was a little bit of him missing...so he went looking.


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More information
Paparazzi: How it all started