Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Beesley, George

1219069Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 04 — Beesley, George1885Thompson Cooper

BEESLEY or BISLEY, GEORGE (d. 1591), catholic missioner, was born at a place called the Mount, in Goosnargh parish, in Lancashire. He was an alumnus of Douay College while it was located at Rheims. Ordained priest in 1587 he was sent upon the English mission in 1588. Falling into the hands of the persecutors he was so frequently tortured by the notorious Topcliffe that he was reduced to a mere skeleton. He steadily refused, however, to divulge anything that might have brought others into danger. He was condemned on account of his priestly character, and for remaining in England contrary to the statute of the 27th Elizabeth, and was executed in Fleet Street, London, on 2 July 1591. Another priest, Monford Scot, suffered at the same time and place.

[Diaries of Douay College; Challoner's Missionary Priests (1741), i. 259; Dodd's Church Hist. ii. 90.]

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