Beesley (or Bisley), George, VENERABLE, martyr, b. at The Hill in Goosnargh parish, Lancaster, England, of an ancient Catholic family; d. 2 July, 1591. He was ordained priest at the English College at Reims, 14 March, 1587, and left for England, 2 November, 1588. A man of singular courage, young, strong, and robust, he was captured by Topcliffe late in 1590, and was by his tortures reduced to a skeleton. He endured all with invincible courage and could not be induced to betray his fellow Catholics. He suffered by the statute of 27 Eliz., merely for being a priest, in Fleet Street, London. His last words were “ Absit mihi gloriari nisi in Cruce Domini Nostri Jesu Christi” and, after a pause, “Good people, I beseech God to send all felicity”.
Gillow,. Bibl. Dict. (London, 1885); CHALLONER, Memoirs; Pou.en, Acts of English Martyrs (London, 1891).
Bede Camm.