Richard Congreve was tutor at Wadham from 1849 to 1854, and three men of that time, Frederic Harrison, Beesly and John Henry Bridges (1832-1906), became the leaders of Comtism in England.
Beesly left Oxford in 1854 to become assistantmaster at Marlborough College.
Professor Beesly stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for Westminster in 1885 and for Marylebone in 1886, and is the author of numerous review articles on social and political topics, treated from the positivist standpoint, especially on the Irish question.