Pieter Brandwijk was born in Sliedrecht on 1 May 1901. He was the son of Gerardus Brandwijk (1877–1935), a ship’s captain, and Neeltje Vuijk (1876–1949).
On 15 November 1924, Pieter married Arina Ariaantje de Vroomen in Sliedrecht. Arina had been born there on 4 October 1905 and was the daughter of Arie de Vroomen (1862–1938) and Dingena Maaike Venis (1863–1922). The family lived at 13 Wilhelminastraat.
Their children
Pieter and Arina had three known children:
- Dingena Maaike “Dinnie” Brandwijk (1925–1987) was already married by 1950 and did not accompany her parents to Australia.
- Neeltje “Nel” Brandwijk was born in Sliedrecht in May 1934. She later married Arie van den Herik (1932–2021) and was still living in Sliedrecht in 2026.
- Gerard Brandwijk (1940–2022) was the “Master Brandwijk” recorded on the 1950 KLM passenger information.
The family’s journey to Australia
Pieter and Arina travelled to Australia with their two youngest children, Nel and Gerard, as part of the organised movement of Dutch dredging workers and their families.
They departed Schiphol on 22 July 1950 aboard the KLM Skymaster Groningen, bound for Sydney. The seating plan places the family together in seats J1 to J4:
- J1 – Mrs Brandwijk;
- J2 – Pieter Brandwijk;
- J3 – Master Brandwijk, now identified as Gerard; and
- J4 – Miss Brandwijk, identified as Nel.
The revised family research gives their Australian arrival as 26 July 1950. However, another surviving annotation associated with the flight records arrival in Sydney on 27 July. The precise arrival date therefore still requires verification.
An earlier apparent conflict involving Mattheus “Theo” Bons has been resolved. Bons occupied seat J1 on the separate KLM flight of 22 June 1950 and was not a member of the Brandwijk family’s July flight.
Dredging work in Australia
The family’s stay was connected with dredging operations undertaken by Dutch companies in Australia. Adriaan Volker and Van Hattum & Blankevoort were involved in projects around Melbourne through Australian Dredging and General Works Pty Ltd.
Pieter’s precise occupation, employer and place of work in Australia have not yet been established. No personal letters or diaries have been located to describe how the family experienced the journey or their temporary life in Australia.
After the dredging assignment, Pieter and Arina returned to the Netherlands and resumed their lives in Sliedrecht. Pieter died there on 18 December 1970. Arina died in Sliedrecht on 2 April 1986.
Their story illustrates that not everyone who participated in the 1950 project became a permanent migrant. For some families, Australia was initially a temporary overseas assignment within the internationally active Dutch dredging industry.
Gerard Brandwijk’s later migration
Gerard Brandwijk married Margarieta van Eck (1937–2020) on 8 February 1963. The couple left the Netherlands by KLM on 10 June 1963 and arrived in Australia two days later.
Gerard and Margarieta had two children, Peter and Gonny. Gonny subsequently lived in Australia. The family was also recorded as living in Rembrandtlaan in Sliedrecht.
The revised information records another departure from the Netherlands on 1 September 1979, aboard a Qantas flight that arrived in Australia on 3 September. This may indicate that the family returned temporarily to the Netherlands before settling again in Australia, although the sequence of these movements still requires clarification.
Gerard’s later migration gave the Brandwijk family a continuing Australian connection. What began as his parents’ temporary dredging assignment in 1950 ultimately contributed to the establishment of a later generation in Australia.
Acknowledgements and further information
The underlying research was prepared by Fred Stuij, with additional family information supplied by Martin Vos. The gravestone photograph comes from Online Begraafplaatsen.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Kees van der Sluijs and Fred Stuij of the Sliedrecht Historical Society.
For genealogical information and research, see Fred Stuij’s website: Alblasserwaard Genealogy.
For the wider history of this organised migration project, see From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers and their families in post-war Australia.
Related company histories, archival sources and personal stories are available through the Dutch Dredging in Australia Research Portal.
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