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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’.
Dr Beesley taught me A-Level History at Rugby and Mrs Beesley taught me English. Both exemplary teachers whose classes are some of my happiest memories of school. Over the past years I used to see Dr Beesley walking by the river in Hammersmith (deep in thought, I hoped about Cromwell!) which was always a cheerful sight. I was very saddened to hear the news and send my condolences to the family. Thank you both for the lasting positive impact you have had on so many of us.
What sad and shocking news. He was Deputy when I joined Rugby and Michell House at 16. He was always good natured, funny and a wise head. He clearly enjoyed debating and joking with the boys, but also took his duty as a mentor and role model seriously. I think he was new to the school, as was I (as a relatively unusual ‘local comprehensive’ boy joining the public school environment). He always encouraged us to speak our minds, and was tickled by and encouraged my somewhat mischievous ‘leftish and anti-establishment rhetoric’. I will remember him very fondly.
We met Ed for the first time in 2007 when deciding whether School Field was the right house for our son. Apparently it was vaguely connected to Rugby School, but it hardly mattered. School Field was the centre of the universe, and Ed was the sun. He was the first to spot our son’s potential and under his influence our son’s academic performance was completely transformed. He was an extraordinary housemaster, liberal by inclination and certainly no disciplinarian, the boys seemed to flourish under what looked – at first – like benevolent neglect. In reality, nobody cared more than Ed, and he could be wonderful when the going got tough. We had enormous respect for Ed and our hearts go out to Lizzie, Gusta and Theo for their loss and the huge hole left in their lives.
I remember our drink at the Red Lion in Summer 2020 just before my ill-fated departure to be a Head in France, the hoot we had on the St Petersburg-Moscow trip, and above all Ed’s warmth and humour. He was a fantastic colleague. I send my deep condoleneces to you all.
Such sad news. I still remember his good humour upon catching me smoking a cigarette in the shower room when 16 years old. I think he was actually quite amused about the whole event and loved reminding me that I was the first kid he caught doing something like that since he started teaching at Rugby. He was a friend to the boys at Michell as much as a teacher.