By: Jan Tent Studies of proper names have revealed naming patterns which may provide insights into the attitudes and values of the contemporaneous name bestowers. This essay analyses the names conferred upon thevessels of the United East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), in order to ascertain whether there Read more
This thesis from Dr. Judith Mirjam Rozeboom examines the lives and treatment of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) people who resided in Australia during WWII and their return to their home country after the war. It compares the lives before, during and after the war of European Indonesians and indigenous Read more
By Tony Thomas Of all the accounts of the earliest Dutch arrivals in Australia, the wreck of the Concordia seems the strangest. A “great vessel” of 900 tonnes with 130 on board, it departed Java bound for the Netherlands in 1708. After a storm south of the Sunda Strait, the Read more
Petronella Wensing (1924-2023) was a Dutch migrant to Australia who passed away in 2023. Below is an obituary written by her son Ed (posted with permission). A short story about Petronella was published in The Canberra Times: The Canberra Times also published a shortened version of Ed Wensing’s obituary for Read more
A basic Australian history questionnaire Noel Jackling The term ‘Australia’ is used in a broad sense to include its earlier names. 1. Who was the first known European skipper to reach Australia? What was the name of his ship and which part of Australia did he touch upon? In what Read more
Born: 3 June 1930 (Limburg, The Netherlands)Died: 12 January 2018 (Canberra) Charles was a demographer and public servant who served in Papua New Guinea (1967-72) and Australia thereafter.He was a proud and active member of the Australian Dutch community. Driven mostly by the desire to improve their material position Dutch Read more
The Groote Beer was one of the three former American Victory ships acquired by the Dutch Government after the Second World War. Together with the Waterman and Zuiderkruis, she became part of the Kleine Drie—the “Little Three”—that carried thousands of Dutch emigrants to Australia and other overseas destinations. Her history Read more
This is a personal CV written by Dirk Bodemeijer, while he was living in the USA after WWII. Dirk was briefly part of the 120 Squadron that operated out of Bundaberg and Dutch New Guinea. The documents underneath his CV, relate to his time In Bundaberg. CV Dirk Bodemeijer Born Read more
Costavina “Coosje” Ayal was one of the remarkable survivors of the resistance against the Japanese occupation of Dutch New Guinea. Still only sixteen when Japanese forces occupied Manokwari in April 1942, she joined a resistance group that remained in the jungles of the Vogelkop for more than two years. Her Read more
Anthony van Diemen was the Governor of the Netherlands East Indies during the time of the exploration of Abel Tasman. Tasmania was first known as Van Diemen’s Land, the name given to the island by Anel Tasman. The name was changed in 1856 to Tasmania. Anthonio (Anthonie, Antonie, Anthony) van Read more