Petrus Franciscus Martinus Hendriks was born on 16 May 1914 at a house on Gasthuislaan in Leiden. He was the son of Martinus Hendriks, a copperplate printer, and Anna Oomens.
On 3 November 1937, Petrus married Cornelia Godschalk in Leiden. Cornelia was born in Lieshout on 21 December 1917 and was the daughter of timber merchant Cornelis Godschalk and Johanna Adriana Verhagen. At the time of his marriage, Petrus was working as a barber.
Petrus left Amsterdam Airport Schiphol by air on 22 July 1950, travelling to Australia as part of the organised migration associated with the Dutch dredging project. The surviving seating plan records him in seat I4. He arrived in Sydney several days later.
Cornelia followed her husband by sea, arriving in Sydney aboard the SS Sibajak on 1 December 1950. The couple subsequently settled permanently in Australia.
Little is currently known about their later lives. Further research may establish where they lived, whether they had children, and when and where they died. Information from relatives or other researchers would be welcomed.
The accompanying photograph of Cornelia Godschalk comes from a document held by the National Archives of Australia.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Kees van der Sluijs and Fred Stuij of the Sliedrecht Historical Society.
For genealogical information and research, see Fred Stuij’s website: Alblasserwaard Genealogy.
