Water and shipping played an important role in the Verhoef family. Willem Verhoef (1889–1974) was a tugboat captain. His second wife was Geertrui Drinkwaard (1895–1981), the mother of Pieter and Jan.
Pieter, known as Piet, was born in Hardinxveld on 9 August 1921. His younger brother Jan was born on Wieringen on 3 October 1930.
The tugboat captained by their father had moorings near the Van Rees shipyard in Sliedrecht and, during 1933, near the local blacksmith’s workshop on Wieringen. These locations reflect the mobile life of a maritime family whose employment, residence and travel were closely connected.
On 22 June 1950, Pieter and Jan departed from Schiphol aboard the first KLM flight carrying Dutch workers to Australia for the Williamstown dredging project. The brothers sat beside each other in seats J3 and J4. Pieter was 28 years old and Jan was 19.
Pieter’s wife, Cornelia Verhoef, also recorded as Cornelia Zondag, followed him to Australia. She arrived in Melbourne aboard the Cameronia on 23 February 1951. Cornelia had been born on 21 March 1917.
Pieter and Cornelia lived in Australia for several years before returning temporarily to the Netherlands around 1969 or 1970. They subsequently returned to Australia aboard KLM Flight 845 in 1970. The incoming-passenger record described Pieter as a foreman and Cornelia as a housewife.
Their address was recorded as 57 Greene Street, South Kingsville, Victoria. The passenger records indicate that they intended to settle permanently in Australia.
Jan eventually returned to the Netherlands, where he married Cornelia Peters. He died in Sliedrecht on 18 December 1998. Cornelia, who had been born on 1 July 1937, died there on 18 July 2017.
Further research in Australian archives may reveal more about Pieter and Cornelia’s working and family life. Fred Stuij would welcome additional information and can be contacted at info@alblasserwaard-genealogie.nl.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Sources: Alblasserwaard-genealogie.nl, Online Begraafplaatsen, Delpher and the National Archives of Australia. De gebroeders Verhoef in Australië.pdf
For the wider history of this organised migration project, see From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Australia.
More related company histories, archival sources and personal stories are available through the Dutch Dredging in Australia Research Portal.
