(Also spelled Bisley). Martyr, born at
The Hill in Goosnargh parish, Lancaster, England, of an ancient Catholic
family; died 2 July, 1591. He was ordained priest at the English College at
Reims, 14 March, 1587, and left for England, 1 November, 1588. A man of
singular courage, young, strong, and robust, he was captured by Topcliffe late
in 1590, and was by his tortured reduced to a skeleton. He endured all with
invincible courage and could not be induced to betray his fellow Catholics. He
suffered by the statue 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".