Event Photos
Tea Fundraiser, Sept. 2018
(Photo by Melinda Sigal)
Ellen setting off on a day of videoing in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
The Kilmarnock Water runs through town and behind buildings.
William Gregory's route to America.
Ellen's ancestor's gravestone in South Carolina saying, "Born in Greenoch, Scotland." (Greenock is slightly misspelled.)
About this Project
"A Scottish Migration to Alexandria" was intended to be a historical documentary film, planned to be about an hour long, or perhaps a short series. So I approached it that way, interviewing historians on camera. As I researched I tried to keep the story pared down to the core narrative. However, since I am a first time film-making hopeful, finding the funding has been difficult. Because this story is largely unknown by Americans, I feel it needs to be told. Many Americans like myself are of Scottish descent but never realized it. The story of most Scottish migrants coming from the Lowlands of Scotland has not been told to an American audience. I hope there will be an interest in Scotland as well in this story, especially in Kilmarnock and Greenock. I loved visiting those cities. A resulting newspaper article in the Kilmarnock Standard was great. I just barely squeezed in an interview in their office before leaving town. That was July of 2018. [See the article under the Press tab.]
During the Covid pandemic I let this project sit. Recently I decided that it is within my power to finish writing the story as a book, which has always been in the plans anyway. As a book I can put in all the related parts which make it all the more interesting. All the images which I spent so much time painstakingly seeking out can now be used for the book. Then, depending on how this book is received, a film could be considered.
The writer and producer of this documentary, Ellen Hamilton, is a designer. Her studio, Yellow Dot Designs offers graphic design services, printed materials, websites and video for businesses, organizations and the public. Yellow Dot has been in business for twelve years in Alexandria, Virginia. Ellen is interested in history, and has been involved in the Alexandria archaeology community for a number of years.
After marrying a Scot from the Glasgow area, Ellen discovered that she has ancestors from Greenock, Scotland. A friend gave Ellen the book, "Renfrewshire, A Scottish County's Hidden Past". After burying herself in that book for about a year, Ellen realized that since most Scots live in the Lowlands of Scotland, most Americans of Scottish descent probably emigrated from that area. After quite a bit of research and reading, this turned out to be the case. Ellen felt that most Americans of Scottish descent, like herself, probably don't think about their Scottish heritage that much. So, somehow, this project got started.
As a new documentary film maker, Ellen Hamilton is doing much of the videography. She hired the production studio Mallard Productions of Glasgow. Old Town Productions is helping with equipment and consulting.
In 2017 Ellen conducted an interview with Derek Alexander in Port Glasgow. Derek is head of the Archaeology Department for the National Trust of Scotland. Mallard Productions did the videography there and at Newark Castle on the shore of the River Clyde. In 2018 Ellen visited Kilmarnock, Scotland where William Gregory was born, and met the people who had been so helpful with information from the Scottish side.
William Gregory's grave marker in Alexandria, Virginia reads: "William Gregory. Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland March 3, 1789. Died July 13, 1875."
His wife Margaret Bartleman and his brother Peter's graves are further west in the same cemetery. Margaret is buried next to her father, William Bartleman, who was a prominent Alexandrian.