Clogs and Dutch are ideas that belong together, largely due to the success of marketing by the Dutch Tourism industry. A more or less unique product and a more or less unique people – a marketers dream combination. Reality is quite different. Very few Dutch migrants brought clogs with them, Read more…
This story is about how Little Groningen came to be. The name was coined by the farmer, Geard, who sold the land to the “G7” scouts, van der Laan and Pinkster. (The “G7” was a group of 7 families who had decided to emigrate to Tasmania and establish a building Read more…
A family’s journey from persecution to peace In 1939, the Nazi regime upended the life of my grandfather, a tax accountant in Vienna, Austria. He owned a large apartment in the city, but being born in Czechoslovakia made him a target, despite my grandmother Caroline Kleiner’s Catholic faith and blonde Read more…
Are you interested in your Dutch Australian family history? Did your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents migrate to Australia from the Netherlands? Or maybe you migrated to Australia from the Netherlands yourself and want to research your family history but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Read more…
The diary of G Rhee is quite unique because it was written in 1940. Gerard Rhee was one of the first Dutch migrants to Tasmania. There are interesting glimpses in this diary of a young man who fell in love with a local lass. Apart from notes about his courting, Read more…
The new doctor There is a red book. It is one of many books in a series. This one is devoted to the letter ‘S’. There is nothing in it except surnames starting with ‘S’, and the history of these names. Because it is a Dutch book, the name ‘von Read more…
Early Life and Career Jan (John) van Hoboken was born in 1908 in Aalten, Gelderland, Netherlands. He began his career in 1929 when he accepted a position at the Borsumij trading company in the Netherlands East Indies. In 1932, he married while living there. When the Japanese invasion of the Read more…
Source: National Archives of Australia Gerard van Wezel migrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1952 under an ex-serviceman assisted passage scheme. In January 1958, he began working as a technical officer with the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority. During this time, he met fellow Dutch migrant Marretje Ida Sonnenberg, who Read more…
Source: National Archives of Australia Sherry Wright, originally named Berta Joanna van Wheeley, migrated from the Netherlands to Australia with her family in 1950. Her father, having endured severe starvation during World War II, was advised to seek a warmer climate for health reasons, prompting the family’s relocation to Brisbane. Read more…
Source: National Archives of Australia In February 1957, the Wolswinkel family, including Henk Wolswinkel, the youngest of 13 children, embarked on the Dutch migrant ship Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (JVO) from Amsterdam to Australia. Their meticulous preparations were slightly overshadowed by a forgotten pair of clogs, left behind by young Henk. Read more…