Last week an Irish film crew from the BBC came to
Derry and Londonderry, New Hampshire to film scenes for a documentary on Ulster Scots Presbyterians, specifically Reverend James MacGregor, who brought his
flock from Northern Ireland to New Hampshire in 1719. They filmed at the First Parish Church in
East Derry, and were treated to a spaghetti dinner by the parish. They also visited the Presbyterian Church in
Londonderry, and the Forest Hill Cemetery, where many of the first Ulster Scots
Presbyterian settlers are buried.
Reverend MacGregor brought 16 families with him to
Londonderry, founding the First Parish Church.
They were persecuted in Northern Ireland for not being members of the
Anglican Church, so they came to Boston, where they were not wanted
either. In New Hampshire they were free
to worship as Presbyterians, and kept their Scots Irish culture alive for
generations.
Local people like Richard Holmes, the Derry Town
Historian; Marilyn Ham, the former Londonderry Town Historian; and Reverend
Susan Remick, the interim pastor of the First Church were interviewed and
filmed by the BBC crew. The crew will
also film scenes in New York City, Philadelphia and India: all places where Ulster
Scots Presbyterians migrated to from Northern Ireland. The film “An
Independent People” will air in 2013 on the BBC. It will
be a three part series presented by William Crawley. Hopefully it will be made available here in
New Hampshire for viewing, too!
Derry News,
5 July 2012 “Irish Film Crew Shoots Local History”
Londonderry
Times, 5 July 2012, “BBC Films Early History Town”, page
2
An earlier blog post on Reverend James MacGregor: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/12/tombstone-tuesday-rev-james-and-mary.html
An
earlier blog post with a list of the original proprietors of Nutfield
(Londonderry) who arrived with Reverend James MacGregor in 1719:
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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
India? I wouldn't have expected that!
ReplyDeleteThat's very cool to have the BBC in town!
Thank you Heather! This show be a good program. I'm going to keep my eye open for when it airs!
ReplyDelete