Dutch migrants Annie and Peter Rijs founded Australian food company Patties Foods. Anna Maria (Annie) Rijs, née Vogels, was born in Haarlem on 15 August 1921. She was the youngest of three children, with older siblings Jan and Corrie. The family later moved to Amersfoort where Annie attended school. Piet Read more
This article (English and Dutch versions) was written and shared with DACC by Keith Paulusse. The Dutch text is below the English text. I had the incredible opportunity to hear a remarkable story from one of her grandchildren. Annie Rijs, the driving force behind Patties Foods, the well-known manufacturer of Read more
This article is based on detailed historical notes generously provided by the Drijver family, who have preserved accounts shared privately by Robbie (Rob) Drijver in the final years of his life after the expiry of his wartime secrecy obligations. The history of Dutch Australians during the Second World War contains Read more
This article is an English abstract of the two-part Dutch biography of Jack and Truus Hompe, published on IndischHistorisch.nl and based on Louise Hompe’s family chronicle Uitgestelde huwelijksnacht. Their story shows how the Netherlands, Australia and the Netherlands East Indies intersected during the final phase of the Second World War. Read more
Margaretha Hanen OAM (née Maas) was a social worker whose concern about the lack of specialist services available to ageing South Australians from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds sparked change in this sector. Early years in the Netherlands Margaretha was born in Oldenboorn in the northern Dutch province of Friesland Read more
Johan “John” Vrolyks was born in 1922 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and emigrated to Australia in 1952. After arriving in Sydney, he worked first as a car washer in Crown Street before becoming a cook with Cahill’s Restaurants. Keen to explore more of Australia, he soon joined the Postmaster-General’s Department Read more
The Barnard Family with Dutch Heritage in New South Wales By Hans Barnard Many in Australia, or indeed South Africa and the United States, that carry the family name “Barnard” are descendants of immigrants from England, where this surname is relatively common. In Australia, however, there are a few Barnards Read more
Frank Zindler is a Dutch migrant and artist who is primarily known for having married Maria (Ria) Scholte, the 50,000th Dutch migrant to Australia. Early years in Indonesia and Australia Frank was born in Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) on 20 May 1932. He grew up in Read more
In 1954 Maria Agnes Scholte (known as Ria) became the 50,000 Dutch person to migrate to Australia. Scholte was born in Amsterdam in the early 1930s and worked as a hairdresser prior to emigrating. She was twenty years old when she left the Netherlands for Australia. Emigration Ria departed from Read more
(Profile current as of October 2025) Chris Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983), Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990), and Luke Hemsworth (born 5 November 1980) are Australian actors whose shared success has brought international attention to their family’s diverse heritage. Through their mother, Leonie (née van Os), they have Dutch Read more