Information provided by Peter’s son Laurie Early Life and Athletic Career Petrus “Peter” or “Piet” van Rijn was born in The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands, on 18May, 1917 (and passed away on 26th June, 2002). His parents were Piet van Rijn and Antonius Hendrieka Knijf. His mother was born in Read more…
Barenbrug Australia, a subsidiary of the Royal Barenbrug Group, plays a significant role in the Australian agricultural sector. The Royal Barenbrug Group, headquartered in the Netherlands, was founded in 1904 by Joseph Barenbrug and has since become a global leader in grass and legume seed research, development, production, and marketing. Read more…
Commemorating a Landmark Voyage The De Vlamingh Memorial Sundial stands as a testament to the historical voyage of Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, whose expedition in 1697 culminated in the significant discovery of Western Australia. This interactive memorial not only commemorates de Vlamingh’s arrival at the Swan River but also Read more…
The beautiful restored and well maintained Miegunjah home was built in Newstead, Brisbane close to Breakfast Creek around 1885 by William Perry an ironmonger with an extensive business selling ironware. The house was sold in 1926 to Marie Menzies, wife of dentist Dr Andrew R. Menzies. When Dr Menzies died Read more…
The National Australian Archives (NAA) holds a large number of passenger arrival records. These records indicate how people moved into and out of Australia. You can search these arrival records in the NAA collection. This includes detailed passenger records for arrivals and departures at all Australian ports from 1924. This Read more…
His life, hopes and adventures written and remembered by Jan (John) Ravesteyn It is a tale of our large family of 10 finding their way in a land and culture where many things have to be learned again and being guided by his Christian faith as the foundation of his Read more…
Andries Snoek (1932-2024) has been writing for Dutch newspapers in Australia for 37 years, contributing to the Dutch Australian Weekly from 1983 to 2004, and to the Melbourne-based Dutch Courier from 2005 till his death in 2024. His career in journalism began at the age of 14 in Gorinchem, when Read more…
Lydekker’s line defines the easternmost extension of oriental animals into the zone of mixing between the Oriental and Australian faunal regions.The Lydekker’s Line and extends into the Pacific Ocean. To the east of this line lies the so called Notogaean, or Australian to the west is the Wallace Line. This Read more…
In April, representatives of the Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA) met with John Wright, the director of the MacArthur Museum in Brisbane (MM-B), to discuss the possibility of hosting a pop-up exhibition on Camp Columbia. Since Wacol, the actual location of Camp Columbia, is out of town, we explored the idea of Read more…
During World War II, the Central Bureau was established in 1942 to support General Douglas MacArthur’s South-West Pacific Area Command. This unit brought together intelligence personnel from various countries, including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. Concurrently, the Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne (FRUMEL) Read more…