Egbert Adriaan van der Sluijs, known as Bert, was born in Sliedrecht on 20 September 1892. He was a son of Johannes Abraham van der Sluijs and Sija Helena de Lint. His varied working life took him from the Dutch dredging industry to Curaçao and, later, Australia.
Bert worked as an engineer on dredging projects and as a pipefitter for the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij in Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands West Indies. At different times, he also worked as a shoemaker, shoe retailer and, following his return to the Netherlands, a tobacconist.
In 1920, Bert married Tanneke Jacoba Jetje van der Goot in Breskens. They had two children: Jeanette Catholine Maria, born in 1921, and Johannes Abraham, born in 1923. The marriage was dissolved in 1926. In 1937, Bert married Alida Teunia Kerkhoff in Rotterdam. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1953.
On 22 June 1950, Bert departed from Schiphol Airport aboard the KLM flight to Melbourne, occupying seat H3. He was 57 years old and recorded as an engineer. His experience in dredging may have been connected with his journey to Australia, although this has not yet been confirmed by documentary evidence.
Bert subsequently returned to the Netherlands, where he worked as a tobacconist. The date and circumstances of his return from Australia remain unknown. His second marriage was officially dissolved in Rotterdam in February 1953, indicating that he had probably returned by then.
Egbert Adriaan van der Sluijs died in The Hague on 10 December 1960, aged 68. His life connected Sliedrecht’s dredging traditions with the petroleum industry in Curaçao and the organised movement of Dutch technical workers to Australia.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Photographs were supplied by E.A. “Bert” van der Sluijs of Lelystad, with additional information drawn from the National Archives of Australia.
Related DACC research
Read the broader story in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Australia.
For related personal stories, migration accounts and company histories, visit the Dutch Dredging in Australia Research Portal.
