Thomas Derrick
Encyclopedia
Thomas Derrick was a notable English
executioner
from the Elizabethan era
.
In English history, executioner was not a commonly chosen career path because of the risk of friends and families of the deceased knowing who the executioner was and where to find him. Executioners were sometimes coerced into the role. Derrick in particular had been convicted of rape
but was pardoned by the Earl of Essex
(clearing him of the death penalty) on the condition that he became an executioner at Tyburn
.
Derrick executed more than 3,000 people in his career including, ironically, his pardoner, the Earl of Essex, in 1601. Derrick devised a beam with a topping lift and pulleys for his hangings, instead of the old-fashioned rope over the beam method. Duly, the word derrick
became an eponym
for the frame from which the hangman's noose was supported and through that usage (by analogy) to modern day cranes.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
from the Elizabethan era
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
.
In English history, executioner was not a commonly chosen career path because of the risk of friends and families of the deceased knowing who the executioner was and where to find him. Executioners were sometimes coerced into the role. Derrick in particular had been convicted of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
but was pardoned by the Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
(clearing him of the death penalty) on the condition that he became an executioner at Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
.
Derrick executed more than 3,000 people in his career including, ironically, his pardoner, the Earl of Essex, in 1601. Derrick devised a beam with a topping lift and pulleys for his hangings, instead of the old-fashioned rope over the beam method. Duly, the word derrick
Derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...
became an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
for the frame from which the hangman's noose was supported and through that usage (by analogy) to modern day cranes.