Adrianus Visser was born in Papendrecht on 4 January 1926. He was the son of Bastiaan Visser (1906–1932) and Neeltje Veth (1907–1991). The family lived at 18 Nanengat in Papendrecht.
His father worked as a carpenter and bicycle repairer. Adrianus was only six years old when Bastiaan was killed in a motorcycle accident at IJsselmonde on 4 September 1932. He was subsequently raised by his mother.
At the age of 24, Adrianus joined the organised migration to Australia. He departed from Schiphol aboard a KLM flight to Sydney on 22 July 1950, occupying seat A5, and arrived four days later.
His initial departure did not end his connection with the Netherlands. Adrianus returned within a year and travelled to Australia again aboard the emigrant ship Grote Beer, arriving in Melbourne in 1951. The available records associate this journey with 27 March 1951.
He apparently returned to the Netherlands again in early 1953. On 27 March 1953, he once more departed for Melbourne aboard the Grote Beer. These repeated journeys show that his settlement in Australia developed over several stages rather than through a single, final departure.
In Australia, Adrianus initially worked as a truck driver. He recorded his address as 186 Claisebrook Road, Perth, Western Australia. This indicates that he spent at least part of his early Australian life in Perth before later settling in Sydney.
Adrianus eventually became the manager of a chemical company in Sydney. The company’s identity, the date of his move from Perth and the development of his professional career have not yet been established.
Adrianus remained unmarried and, according to the presently available information, did not have a family of his own. He died in Sydney in 1998 at the age of 72.
Further research in Australian address registers, newspapers and company records may reveal more about his employment, movements within Australia and continuing connections with his family in the Netherlands.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Photograph and documents: Australian archival records. adrianus Visser.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.
