1) This was the occupational term for the men who dug the early pit shafts.
The colliery accounts for Tong have the following entry: 1760 paid sinkers 10s 6d . A story in the note-book of J.S. Nowell of Almondbury, writing in 1861, recounts how a collier known as ‘Sinker’ Kaye acquired his nickname: he was so called because he would delve for the new houses after completing his shift as a collier
making extra money by excavating or sinking draw wells.
2) The circular board which compresses the curds in the cheese vat.
1579 iij chese fattes, a sinker & a wood doubler, South Cave
1593 chesfaittes a cheise presse & a synker 2s, Hudswell
1676 26 chesfats & sinkers, Selby.