Dirk Hartog (1580–1621) was a Dutch sea captain and explorer whose 1616 voyage marked the first recorded European landing on Australia’s western coast. His journey left an enduring legacy in maritime history and Australian heritage. Early life and maritime career Born in Amsterdam and baptised on 30 October 1580, Dirk Read more
There were some of 42 000 Dutch military and naval personnel and 100 000 Dutch civilians who were captured when the Japanese conquered the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942. After the War around 6,000 internees and Dutch POWs who needed immediate medical assistance were brought to Australia where they were allowed to recuperate for between 3 to 6 months, after which they were either repatriated to the Netherlands or went back to Netherlands East Indies.
The Steam Ship Volendam was a 15,434 GRT ton ocean liner operated by Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij). She was built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, in Govan, Glasgow. The ship was purchased by Holland America Line while under construction and launched on 6 July 1922. Her Read more
Royal Rotterdamsche Lloyd (then Nedlloyd and now part of Maersk) started building the ship in 1938. The company was in the process to replace the aging fleet of ships on the Dutch East Indies route, her keel was laid in 1939 at De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands. Interrupted by Read more
More individual information is available on the DACC database (see links below). The major ships bringing Dutch migrants to Australia include: Remembering the Dutch Ships contribution for the defence of Australia. Dutch passenger liners such as the MV Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Oranje, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Volendam to name just a Read more
History Already in the 1800 we see Dutch people settling in Australia. A rather famous early immigrant was Willem Hendrik Paling who settled in Sydney in 1853. He established music stores in Sydney and Brisbane, wrote music, was a teacher and a performer. The 1911 caucus lists only 650 Dutch Read more
Adriana Zevenbergen, Australia’s 100,000th Dutch migrant, excited to start unpacking after arriving in Melbourne, 1958. The 50,000th Dutch migrant arrived had arrived in 1954.
After the Franco-Prussian war in 1870/1871 – in which my grandfather fought – two important developments happened: This put Germany right in competition with Britain who was the global superpower of the day. Germany had a great (Prussian) army but didn’t have a strong naval force, rather the opposite of Read more
Miniseries about a succession of IRA attacks that really took place in the late 1980s in Limburg, Germany. Team leader Jeanine Maes (Hadewych Minis) opens the hunt for the ruthless Fiona Hughes (Aoibhínn McGinnity). The Spectacular | SBS On Demand The movie also highlights the’mistake murders’ of two Australian tourists Read more
