Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association

The Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association (MELMA) was a trade union representing coal miners in parts of the Lothian area of Scotland.

The union described itself as having been founded in 1873 under the leadership of David Moffat,^[1] but it was wound up the following year following an unsuccessful strike,^[2] Moffat having to relocate to Fife due to victimisation.^[3]

The union was re-established in 1887 by George Young and Robert Brown.^[2] It registered in 1889, by which time it had a membership of about 2,000 workers.^[1] In 1894, it was a founder constituent of the Scottish Miners' Federation,^[4] and it played a leading role in that year's strike of miners in Scotland.^[2] Other major strikes took place in 1912 and 1921.^[2]

In 1945, the association was merged with other unions to form the Stirling and Lothians Area of the National Union of Mineworkers.^[5]

General Secretaries

1890: Robert Brown

1917: Joseph Young

1919: Andrew Clarke

1940: Alexander Cameron

References

1 2 Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.II, p.226
1 2 3 4 Catherine P. Snodgress, The County of East Lothian, p.161
↑ Stephenson, Graham. "MOFFAT ABE, ALEX AND DAVE" (PDF). A Compendium of Communist Biographies. Retrieved 16 December 2015. Sources: Abe Moffat `My life with the miners' (1965) and other material
↑ The Labour Gazette, vol.2 (1894), p.47
↑ C. P. Snodgrass, The county of East Lothian, p.162

Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Presidents	1889 Pickard 1904 Enoch Edwards 1912 Smillie 1922 Smith 1929 Richards 1931 Ebby Edwards 1932 Lee 1934 J. Jones 1939 Lawther 1954 Ernest Jones 1960 Machen 1960 Ford 1971 Gormley 1982 Scargill 2002 Lavery 2012 Wilson

Vice-Presidents	1889 Woods 1909 Smillie 1912 Harvey 1914 House 1917 Smith 1922 Walsh 1924 Richards 1929 Ebby Edwards 1931 Lee 1932 J. Jones 1933 Davies 1934 Lawther 1939 Bowman 1950 Ernest Jones 1954 Edward Jones 1960 Collindridge 1963 Bullough 1969 Schofield 1973 McGahey 1987 Thompson 1989 Vacant 1992 Cave 2002 Stanley 2010 Wilson 2012 Thomas

General Secretaries	1889 Ashton 1919 Hodges 1924 Cook 1932 Ebby Edwards 1946 Horner 1959 Paynter 1968 Daly 1984 Heathfield 1992 Scargill 1992 Vacant? 2002 Kemp 2007 Kitchen

Treasurers	1889 Enoch Edwards 1904 Abraham 1918 Robson 1921 Richardson

MFGB affiliates	Bristol Cleveland Cokemen Cumberland Derbyshire Durham Forest of Dean Kent Lancashire and Cheshire Leicestershire Midland Counties Northumberland North Wales Nottinghamshire Scotland (Ayrshire Fife and Kinross Lanarkshire Mid and East Lothian Mid and West Lothian Stirling) Somerset South Derbyshire South Wales Yorkshire

Strikes	1893 1912 1926 1969 1972 1974 1984–1985

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