Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 15 March 1913

Fred Keeton, a “jinneyer,” of Mexboro’, was summoned for negligence in setting stop-blocks in the Denaby mine on March 3.

Mr. Allen explained that it was the defendant’s duty to see that the tubs were stopped at the top of every “jinney” by blocks which were provided for the purpose.

The defendant omitted to place the stop-blocks in position, but lowered the tubs down the “jinney” top, and three got away, ran down the incline, and collided with other tubs at the bottom of the “jinney.” Had it not been for those tubs being at the bottom there would have been three men killed down the roadway.

The defendant pleaded forgetfulness, and was ordered to pay 20s. inclusive.

Note: In historic UK coal mines, a jinneyer (also known as a jinney tenter) was the worker responsible for operating the underground gravity haulage system. Their job was to manage the braking system on sloped roadways, using the weight of descending loaded tubs to pull empty tubs back up to the coal face.

The term comes from the “jinney road” or “jinney,” which was the local name for a self-acting underground incline.

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