Thomas Derrick
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{{For|the Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross|Tom Derrick}}
'''Thomas Derrick''' was a notable [[England|English]] [[execution (legal)|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 you were and where to find you. Executioners were sometimes coerced into the role. Derrick in particular had been convicted of [[rape]] but was pardoned by the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] (clearing him of the [[death penalty]]) on the understanding that he became an executioner at [[Tyburn, London|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.<ref>[http://www.tolani.edu/tmi/news/dlc_sept2004.htm Tolani Maritime Institute glossary of words]</ref> Duly, the word 'Derrick' came to be used for the frame from which the [[hangman's noose]] was supported and through that usage to modern day [[Derrick (lifting device)|cranes]].<ref>[http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=12148 Readers Digest article, "People Who Become Words"]</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Tudor people]]
[[Category:English executioners]]
[[Category:Eponyms]]
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[[ja:デリック (死刑執行人)]]