Johannes Pieter Keyser, whose surname was also written as Keijser, was born in Rotterdam on 1 May 1923. He was the son of Johannes Nicolaas Keijser, a watchman, and Alberta Nielsen.
On 5 June 1946, Johannes married Alida Conijn in Rotterdam. Alida had been born in Hillegersberg on 25 July 1923 and was the daughter of Johannes Petrus Conijn and Lena Kleijn.
Johannes initially worked as a machine fitter and later as a mechanical engineer. On 22 June 1950, he departed from Schiphol aboard a KLM flight to Australia. The passenger information records him in seat D5. He arrived in Sydney on 27 June 1950.
Alida followed several months later aboard the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, arriving in Melbourne on 8 October 1950. The couple subsequently established their life in Australia.
Johannes travelled from the Netherlands to Australia again in June 1951. Passenger records indicate that he made several further journeys between the two countries during the following decades.
A record dated 6 October 1963 describes the 40-year-old Johannes as a Dutch engineer. The available account refers both to a journey to the Netherlands and to KLM Flight F275 travelling to Sydney. Because these details appear inconsistent, the original passenger record should be consulted before the direction of this journey is stated definitively.
In April 1970, Johannes travelled by air from Amsterdam to Australia. Another journey was recorded in 1972, when he travelled from the Netherlands to Sydney. These records demonstrate that he maintained connections with both countries over many years.
Johannes and Alida lived at 82 View Street, Gymea, in southern Sydney. Little is presently known about their daily lives in Australia, Johannes’s engineering career or whether the couple had children.
Johannes Pieter Keyser died at Gymea on 25 January 2009, shortly before his 86th birthday. He was cremated, and his ashes were interred at Woronora Memorial Park in Sydney. The date and place of Alida’s death have not yet been established.
Further research may reveal more about the Keyser-Conijn family, Johannes’s career and any descendants. Anyone with additional information is invited to contact Fred Stuij at info@alblasserwaard-genealogie.nl.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Sources: Rotterdam City Archives and the National Archives of Australia. Photograph: Dutch Australian Cultural Centre. Johannes Pieter Keyser.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.
