On 22 July 1950, Pieter Snoey, known as Peter, departed from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport aboard the KLM flight carrying Dutch workers and family members to Australia. He occupied seat G2 and arrived in Sydney on 26 July, following several intermediate stops.
Peter’s presence on this flight places him among the Dutch migrants associated with the organised dredging project centred on Williamstown. Although the available information does not yet identify his occupation or explain how he became involved in the project, his journey marked the beginning of a permanent life in Australia.
Peter married Alice Patricia Snoey, known as Pat. Born on 20 January 1933, she became the mother of their four sons: Pieter, Robert, Michael and Philip Mark.
Philip Mark Snoey was born on 7 August 1961 and died on 28 October 2008. He was buried at Williamstown Cemetery in Melbourne, providing another link between the family and the Williamstown area.
Peter died at Yackandandah, Victoria, on 13 December 2001, two days after his 74th birthday. He was buried at Yackandandah Cemetery. Pat died on 5 June 2022 and was buried at Werribee Cemetery.
While important details about Peter’s early life and work remain to be discovered, the surviving passenger and cemetery records trace a life that began in the Netherlands and became firmly established in Victoria.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Photographs and cemetery information: BillionGraves.
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.
