Marigje Maria van Rijsbergen was born in Sliedrecht on 19 August 1916. She was the daughter of Cornelis “Kees” van Rijsbergen (1874–1952), a merchant, and Marigje Nederlof (1882–1950).
On 13 December 1947, Marigje married 36-year-old Heike Bakker in Sliedrecht. Heike had been born in Delfzijl on 31 October 1911 and was the son of engineer Arie Bakker and Anna Kunnegine Nijhof.
Following their marriage, the couple lived at 48 Van Lennepstraat in Sliedrecht. The street was renamed Piet Rijsdijkstraat after the war.
Heike had worked in the shipping and dredging industries from an early age. In 1931, he was employed aboard a sand dredger in Den Bosch. He later worked as a marine engineer.
In 1950, Heike and Marigje emigrated to Australia, travelling one month apart. Heike departed from Schiphol aboard a KLM flight to Melbourne on 22 June 1950 and occupied seat I1.
Marigje followed on 22 July 1950, also travelling aboard a KLM flight from Schiphol to Melbourne. She occupied seat D1. Their separate journeys illustrate how some married couples participating in the organised migration project travelled on different flights.
An Australian incoming-passenger registration card records that Heike and Marigje settled at 24 Victoria Street, Williamstown, Victoria.
The couple later returned to the Netherlands for a visit. On 6 September 1972, they arrived back in Australia following a four-month stay in the Netherlands. By that time, both were recorded as Australian citizens.
Further research in Australian archives may reveal more about their working lives, later years and any descendants.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Source: Australian incoming-passenger cards for September–December 1972, alphabetical register BAKEWELL–BAPTY. Marigje Maria Bakker.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.
