George Beesley

{{Short description|English Roman Catholic priest and martyr}} {{Infobox saint|name=George Beesley|image=|imagesize=|alt=|caption=Stained glass display within the Roman Catholic Church of St Francis in Goosnargh.|titles=Martyr|birth_date=c. 1562|birth_place=The Hill in Goosnargh parish, Lancashire, England|home_town=|residence=|death_date=2 July 1591 (aged 28–29)|death_place=Fleet Street, London, England|feast_day=1 July|venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church|beatified_date=22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II|beatified_place=|beatified_by=|canonized_date=|canonized_place=|canonized_by=|major_shrine=|attributes=|patronage=|issues=|suppressed_date=|suppressed_by=|influences=|tradition=|influenced=|major_works=|module=|birth_name=|honorific_suffix=|honorific_prefix=Blessed}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2019}} '''George Beesley''' (or Bisley) (born c. 1562 at The Hill in Goosnargh parish, Lancashire, England; died 2 July 1591) was an English Roman Catholic diocesan priest. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1987 as one of the Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.<ref>[https://nominis-cef-fr.translate.goog/contenus/saint/11873/Bienheureux-Georges-Beesley-et-Montfort-Scott.html?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc "Bienheureux Georges Beesley", Nominis]</ref>

==Life==

Blessed George Beesley was born into a Catholic family in a farmhouse that is now the presbytery for St. Francis, Hill Chapel. With the church taken over by the newly established religion, the area Catholics held services in private homes. The Beesleys were frequently fined for not attending the official church.<ref name=francis>[https://stfrancisgoosnargh.chessck.co.uk/History "History of the Parish", St. Francis, Hill Chapel]</ref>

George was ordained at the English College, Rheims, France for the diocese of Lancaster on 14 March 1587. On November 1, 1588, he went back to England.<ref name=Camm>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02389a.htm Camm, Bede. "Ven. George Beesley." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907 {{PD-notice}}</ref> His younger brother, Richard, also became a priest.<ref name=francis/>

In late 1590 he was captured and imprisoned for the crime of being a Roman Catholic priest. A man of singular courage, young, strong, and robust, his torture by Topcliffe left reduced to a skeleton. He was repeatedly tortured in order to give up the names of the other Catholics, but could not be induced to betray anyone.<ref name=Camm/> He was hanged, drawn and quartered in Fleet Street, London<ref>[https://timesofmalta.com/article/british-martyrs-called-george.15032 Grech, Joseph. "British martyrs called George", ''Times of Malta'', June 9, 2007]</ref> along with Montford Scott under the statute of 27 Eliz. (Jesuits, etc. Act 1584).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-29 |title=Blessed George Beesley - Saint of the Day - July 1 |url=https://catholicreadings.org/blessed-george-beesley-saint-of-the-day-july-1/ |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=Catholic Daily Readings |language=en-US}}</ref> His last words were "Good people, I beseech God to send all felicity".<ref name=Camm/>

George Beesley was beatified on 22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II.<ref>[http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/gbeesley Odden, Per Einar. "Den salige George Beesley (~1563-1591)", Den katolske kirke]</ref> His feast day is 1 July.<ref name=francis/>

==References== {{Reflist}} *{{Catholic|wstitle=Ven. George Beesley}}

{{Canonization}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Catholicism |portal4= England}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beesley, George}} Category:1591 deaths Category:16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Category:English beatified people Category:16th-century venerated Christians Category:People from Goosnargh Category:Year of birth unknown Category:16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Category:People executed under Elizabeth I Category:English torture victims Category:Eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales