Beesley (or BISLEY), GEORGE, VENERABLE, martyr, b. at The Hill in Goosnargh parish, Lancaster, England, of an ancient Catholic family; d. July 2, 1591. He was ordained priest at the English College at Reims, March 14, 1587, and left for England, November 2, 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”.
BEDE CAMM