Hendrik Prins was born in Sliedrecht on 30 January 1916. He was the son of Arie Prins (1893–1957), an engineer, and Arina Elisabeth Bernhart (1893–1985).
Niesje Visser was born in Sliedrecht on 27 July 1917. She was the daughter of Klaas Visser (1891–1967) and Hendrika Lanser (1891–1965). She had a brother, Teunis Visser (1916–1990).
Hendrik and Niesje announced their intention to marry in late September 1939 and were married in Sliedrecht on 10 October 1939. Niesje was 22 and Hendrik was 23. They subsequently lived at 2 Vermeerstraat in Sliedrecht.
Their daughter Rudith Prins was born in Sliedrecht on 28 May 1947.
On 22 June 1950, Hendrik, Niesje and three-year-old Rudith departed from Schiphol aboard a KLM flight to Melbourne. The passenger information records the family in seats B1, B2 and B5.
The family maintained connections with the Netherlands after settling in Australia. On 29 August 1960, Hendrik returned to Melbourne aboard a KLM flight following a visit to the Netherlands.
In late 1967, Hendrik, Niesje and Rudith again travelled from the Netherlands to Australia aboard KLM Flight 843, arriving in Sydney. The incoming-passenger records described Hendrik as an engineer, Niesje as a housewife and Rudith as a student. Their visit to the Netherlands may have been connected with the death of Niesje’s father, Klaas Visser, in 1967, although this has not been confirmed.
The family eventually settled permanently in North Altona, near Melbourne. Their recorded journeys in 1950, 1960 and 1967 illustrate how some Dutch migrants continued to maintain personal and family connections with the Netherlands long after establishing their lives in Australia.
According to a death notice published in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, Hendrik Prins died in Australia on 8 December 2014. Further research may reveal more about Niesje’s later life and the family’s descendants.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Sources and documentation: National Archives of Australia. Hendrik Prins en Niesje 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.
