Former regional and national newspaper journalist George McMillan has died, aged 76.

He worked for the Mirror Group before joining the Hackney Gazette, where he served as deputy editor between 1979 and 1987.

He also edited several free newspapers, including the Hackney Echo, the Islington Chronicle and the Haringey Weekly Herald.

Having been born and brought up in Hackney, George was proud of his roots and of a famous ancestor, Jeremiah Bloomfield Moye, a member of the Shoreditch Vestry between 1879 and 1884.

Away from his newspaper work, he was a keen runner and a member of Victoria Park Harriers athletics club and ran competitively in the 1950s as well acting as the club’s press secretary.

After retiring in 1987 to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, he was able to pursue his passion for researching his family history, tracing the Moye family genealogy with a new-found cousin, Tora Roat-Moye, who shared his interest. Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or e-mail [email protected]