The Referend John Dunmore Lang was a Scottish-born Australian politician and Presbyterian minister who advocated for the establishment of a Dutch settlement in Moreton Bay in the mid-19th century. Lang believed that a Dutch settlement in Moreton Bay would be beneficial for both the Dutch and the Australian colonies. He Read more…
Obviously the Big Australian Gold Rush that started in the 1850s and 1860s had also reached the news in the Netherlands. It looks like that several potential prospectors signed on as sailor on the many merchants ship with the aim to jump ship in Australia and try their luck on Read more…
Jan Vennik: the Dutchman at Eureka. This Dutchman was present in the vicinity of the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854, before he was arrested and charged with Treason together with 12 others.
Established in 1903 to support sailors who had jumped ship Established as the Queen Wilhelmina Benevolent Trust Fund, it was established in 1903 to support Dutch sailors who found themselves in need of financial assistance after jumping ship in foreign ports. At the time, many Dutch sailors were facing difficult Read more…
The following text is from a booklet published by the Federation of Netherlands Societies Ltd. in February 1985. The research for this booklet was done by Mijntje Hage. The Netherlands Australian Sports Club Wilhelmina Ltd. (N.A.S.C) was a club with its own building and therefore an enormous number of activities going on. Read more…
Cornelis Antoine Trijssenaar was born on 2 January 1909 in Arnhem. ‘Keesje’ grew up in an international family originally coming from Strassbourg to The Hague. He had family in Monaco, Austria and Switzerland where summer holidays were spent. Returning family occupations are either government administration or having artistic aspirations. Kees’ Read more…
Dr Edward Duyker was born in 1955 to a father from the Netherlands and a mother from Mauritius. His mother has ancestors from Cornwall who emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, in 1849. Edward’s father Herman, was born in Schaesberg, Limburg and emigrated to Australia in 1950 and arrived here on Read more…
By Susanne Ruijs I arrived with my family in Australia in July 1980. Our family consisted of my husband Hein and me and our four children Eva (12), Saskia (11), Thomas (9) and Christine (6). Hein had been offered a position as lecturer in Hospitality at the then Agricultural College Read more…
Evert van Hummel was born in Baarn in the Netherlands on 29 January 1916. Evert Herman Van Hummel (some called him Evert others called him Herman) left high school at the age of 15, because he was fascinated by engines. He first worked as an apprentice car mechanic at a Read more…
Just as there have been extreme weather events in Australia last year carrying over into this year resulting in devastating floods over large areas of Australia resulting in loss of life, livelihood and billions of dollars’ worth of damage to property and infrastructure, so there was seventy years ago an Read more…