Putter a term used on Northumberland for a person, usually a boy or young man who pushes tubs of coal from the coal face to the area at the bottom of the shaft known as the pit eye. Before 1842 women did this type of work in some coalfields.. A hurrier in Yorkshire, a waggoner or drawer in Lancashire.[i] The practice of employing boys to do this work continued after the 1842 Act Mines and Collieries Act prohibited all girls and boys under ten years old from working underground in coal mines. [ii]

Reference:
[i] Glossary of coal mining terminology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_coal_mining_terminology
[ii] Mining Occupations, Durham Mining Museum website http://www.dmm.org.uk/educate/mineocc.htm

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