Henry Albert Pierrepoint was a British executioner from 1901 until 1910.
Background
Pierrepoint was born in Normanton on Soar, Nottinghamshire, the fourth child and second son of Thomas and Mary Pierrepoint. Henry was unhappy working there, and so in 1893 his father arranged an apprenticeship for him at a large butchers in Bradford.
Career
By 1891, he and his family had moved to Clayton, near Bradford, where he was employed in a worsted mill. In 1901, Henry was appointed to the list of executioners after repeatedly writing to the Home Office to offer his services. He participated in his first hanging on 19 November, as an assistant to James Billington.
Over the next few years, he worked primarily as an assistant to William and John Billington before becoming the principal executioner of Britain in 1905.
In 1906, he carried out all eight hangings in the country. In his nine-year term of office Henry carried out 105 executions.
His career was finished when he arrived the day before an execution at Chelmsford Prison "considerably the worse for drink", and fought his assistant John Ellis. Ellis reported the incident to the Home Office which decided, after receiving confirmation by the warders" account of the matter, to strike Henry from the list of approved executioners.
Henry was never officially "dismissed", but he was removed from the list of executioners and invitations to conduct executions ceased to arrive.
Henry had been suffering from a terminal illness for several years and died on 14 December 1922, aged 44, although he was incorrectly registered as 48.