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Back to all news
Members of the St Paul’s Community are invited to share their messages of condolence, following the sad loss of Dr Ed Beesley, Head of History at St Paul’s.
Ed’s wife is extremely grateful for the kind words she has received so far and wanted the school to share this message with the Pauline community:
Normally, I am extremely assiduous in writing thank-you cards for the gifts I receive but, after today, this would be an Herculean task so please excuse the impersonal nature of this message.
Ed was loved and respected wherever he worked and it is an enormous help to Augusta, Theo and me to see this marked so palpably by the hundreds of cards and messages we have already received. We have long since run out of vases for beautiful flowers and the massive box which just arrived with so many envelopes, gifts and expressions of love from SPGS and SPS is quite overwhelming. The Rugby community also holds Ed deep in their hearts and so we are drawing on our collective good memories to keep us strong. Ed will live with us forever, of course, but you have all already played a huge part in supporting us and I know he would love you all the more for it.
With our best wishes, Lizzie, Augusta and Theo.
If you would like to share your message on this page, please add your comment in the below box.
If you wish to include your name with your message, please add it to the message box as well as the field marked ‘name’.
It is devastating news to realise that Ed has been taken from us. As a schoolmaster he was quite simply a colossus, as dedicated to his subject as he was to his pupils. A brilliant educator with a razor sharp wit, Ed had the capacity to enthuse, cajole and support like no other. His loss will be keenly felt and my thoughts are with Lizzie and family.
Graham Seel
It was a privilege to work alongside Ed at St Paul’s Boys. He was a fantastic colleague with a brilliant sense of humour. He threw himself into everything he did with enthusiasm, empathy and fun. My thoughts are with all his friends and family, and he will be deeply missed in the St Paul’s community and well beyond.
Dr. Beesley’s death is an immense and tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family and friends.
Dr. Beesley was simply an inspiration. He was a ferocious wit, who loved his subject completely and inspired a love of it for many students, including myself. I had been torn between doing English and History at university, but Dr. Beesley’s electric classes made the choice very easy in the end. He had a way of approaching any subject, even ones that sounded rather dry, and turning it into a human drama. I have never encountered another teacher who can do that.
Despite his occasionally lacerating (and always hilarious) takedowns of our work, and sometimes us, he was a man of almost boundless empathy. You did not need to say anything and yet he understood you needed to talk. He once took me aside and spoke to me for a couple of hours during a hugely challenging time for me. With a mix of humour, honesty, intelligence and kindness, he made me laugh and made me excited about my future. I truly believe that conversation was among the most important I’ve ever had. He was a man many of us trusted with anything. He had seen it all, and nothing shocked him. During my last two years, I felt he was as much a friend as a teacher. He always had a great book to read, or an idea for my new history seminar, or simply his trademark smile, which seemed to have all the answers. He truly changed my life and will be forever missed.
Robert Daniel (OP 2015-2020)
It was a real privilege to work alongside Ed. Always kind, considerate, supportive and witty. I will miss him a great deal and remember him with great fondness.
My thoughts are with Dr Beesley’s family in this deeply saddening time.
Dr Beesley was a good man. Behind the rough exterior was someone who deeply cared about his students and cherished the study of history. Personally, he reignited my love of history after a long period of ambivalence, through his intellectual rigor and passion in the classroom. Lots of people will remember his humour, as I do. But I also remember that after a particularly painful meeting during which it had become apparent I had done not one iota of the work required for my coursework, he decided to complement me on a recent theatrical performance. This, to me, embodies the man. Academically ruthless, but always in service of his student’s attainment. And, when all was said and done, and the textbooks and gobbets and love of all things ‘early modern’ was put away, he always made sure to say a kind word before running off to another hopeless Pauline. He was undoubtedly one of my favourite teachers and I imagine his influence will never quite leave me.