Gerrit van der Meulen was one of the Dutch workers who travelled to Australia in 1950 in connection with the major post-war dredging project at Williamstown. The wider history of this project and the men recruited for it is described in From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Australia.
Gerrit was born on 6 December 1921 at 184 Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam. He was the son of Pieter van der Meulen, a dockworker, and Wilhelmina Huiszoon.
He married Maria Janna [surname unknown], who was born on 24 April 1921 at an as yet unidentified location.
Gerrit travelled to Melbourne with the group that departed from the Netherlands in June 1950. He arrived in Melbourne on 27 June 1950.
After temporarily returning to the Netherlands, Gerrit and Maria’s daughter, Johanna W. van der Meulen, was born on 3 August 1955.
On 13 October 1960, Gerrit departed for Australia again, accompanied by his wife and daughter. They travelled to Melbourne, with Canberra recorded as their final destination.
This account was supplied by the Historische Vereniging Sliedrecht as part of its research into the Dutch dredging workers who travelled to Australia in 1950. Some details, including Maria’s surname and birthplace, have not yet been established.
