Abe Moffat
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/Portrait_of_Abe_Moffat_by_R_Wolstein_1961.jpg/220px-Portrait_of_Abe_Moffat_by_R_Wolstein_1961.jpg)
Abraham Moffat (24 September 1896 – 28 March 1975) was a Scottish
Joining the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1922, Abe Moffat was active in a variety of ways. In 1924 he was elected as a communist candidate to the Ballingry Parish Council, serving for 5 years. He was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union, becoming its general secretary in 1931. He served until 1935, when the union dissolved. He was also elected to the Central Committee of the CPGB in 1932.
Early life
Moffat was born in 1896 into a
He left school at the age of fourteen to work at the local coal mine, while spending his spare time competing in middle-distance athletics.
Rise to prominence
Abe and his brother, Alex Moffat, were central to the miners' struggle for economic rights. Many years later, the Central Fife Times and Advertiser reported that "the name Moffat was to become legend throughout the Fife, then Scottish, and ultimately the British mining industry. The Moffat brothers were reported to be in the thick of every struggle to defend and improve the conditions of the miners and their families."[4] Alex and another sibling, David, born seven years apart, were more than just younger brothers to Abe. They were brothers-in-arms, and usually biographies tend to combine them. Being born in Lumphinnans – one of several pit towns dominated at the time by the Communist Party and called 'Little Moscow' by some – they were almost destined to become mine unionists and communists.[3]
Working in the pits for 16 years, Abe Moffat was frequently victimised. He actively supported miners' strike actions.[3]
Moffat was prominent in the 1921 lock-out of miners, and afterwards was blacklisted. He turned to
Moffat held office in the Mineworkers' Reform Union, which split from the
Due to his leadership in a dispute over payment systems, Moffat was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union.[2] The union was struggling to survive, and Moffat rose quickly to become its general secretary in 1931, serving until it was dissolved in 1935. He was also elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1932.[2]
National Union of Scottish Mineworkers
The dissolution of the United Mineworkers left Moffat out of work again, but he was elected to
Two years later, Moffat was elected president of the union, beating Jimmy McKendrick. He used the post to advocate increased output during World War II, and was re-elected in 1944 with a large majority over Hugh Brannan.[2] He held three major union offices: President of the National Union of Scottish Mine Workers; member of the executive committee of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain; Vice-chairman. Scottish Regional Coal Board; member National Coal Board.[1]
In 1943, Moffat met King
When the
Moffat retired in 1961. He was succeeded as president of the Scottish Mineworkers by his younger brother, Alex.[4][10] In his later years, Abe Moffat devoted his time to the Scottish Old Age Pensioners' Association until his death in 1975.[2]
References
Notes
- ^ In 1947 at William Pit there was another disaster of similar proportions when 104 men were killed. Four separate explosions over the period 1922–1931 at Haig Pit together killed 83. In 1910 the largest local disaster was at Wellington pit, where 136 miners died.[7] Haig was to become the last pit to operate in Whitehaven.
Citations
- ^ a b "Biographical Notes: Moffat, Abe. Address: 7, West George Street, Glasgow, C.2". 1945 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-333-96873-4.
- ^ a b c d 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
- ^ a b c "Brothers from Lumphinanns were powerful figures". Central Fife Times & Advertiser. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- Manchester Guardian. Manchester. 30 July 1943. p. 3.
- ^ "Moffat, Abe. Address: 7, West George Street, Glasgow, C.2. Source: 1945 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory". Biographical Notes. Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
8 October 1947 Newspaper Article "Whitehaven Explosion Inquiry"
- ^ "List of Disasters". HealeyHero. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ^ "Mr Abe Moffat". The Times. London. 29 March 1975. p. 14.
- ^ 1945 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1947 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1950 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1955 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian;1960 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
- ^ "Obituary: Mr Alex Moffat". The Guardian. London. 7 September 1967. p. 7.
Sources
- Linehan, Thomas (2007). Communism in Britain, 1920–39: From the Cradle to the Grave. Manchester New York New York: ISBN 978-0-7190-7141-6.
- Moffat, Abe (1965). My life with the miners. Lawrence & Wishart. p. 297. ASIN B0000CMFR1.
- Tuckett, Angela (1986). The Scottish Trades Union Congress: the first 80 years, 1897–1977 (1st ed.). City: Mainstream Publishing in conjunction with the Scottish Trades Union Congress. p. 429. ISBN 978-1851580231.