Johanna Binkhorst I was born in 1918 to a Dutch father and German mother. I was educated in Germany, where I lived and enjoyed a comfortable family life until the depression began. Due to political unrest, my father decided to take the family to Holland, not an easy transition to Read more
Hans Hulsbosch, independent brand designer Born in Valkenswaard just south of Eindhoven, the Phillips city, age 62 in 2014. Hans married Marianne in the Netherlands before emigration to New Zealand. Marianne’s father had knowledge of Australia and had positive views of the country. Hans was trained in design and advertising and worked Read more
1950s Migrant, Peter Herweynen, Master Builder in Tasmania and the Antarctica When he was 18 years old, Jan van Herweynen was asked by his father to travel to Tasmania, and to purchase a piece of land and begin building a house. Jan was accompanied by his cousin Bob Brinkman and Read more
Adriana Taylor, from Dutch Schoolgirl to ‘Servant of the People’ It is normal for the eldest son to inherit the farm. This has been true over the centuries, and in many places in the world. Jos (Adrianus Johannes Ansems), known to all as Lange Jos, refused the privilege. He had Read more
Sijke Bink-Faber, from Dutch village in Friesland to Australian farm Early Life My name is Sylvia Bink, I was born 25 May, 1915, as Sijke Faber in Schingen a small village, about an hour’s ride on the push bike from Leeuwarden, the capital city of the Dutch province of Friesland. Read more
Elly Anderson (nee Van Der Sommen) In my small collection of Dutch books at our home in South Australia there is a 1950 hard cover publication titled Australië – Land van Vele Mogelijkheden by J.J. van der Laan. It was one of many books that my parents brought to Australia Read more
In May 1950, a group of 10 men, and their wives, met in the residence of Eerke van der Laan in the city of Groningen. They had met several times before, and during the war years had learned to know and trust each other. Now they were discontented, but hopeful. Read more
Life at an Indonesian Sugar Plantation A touch of humour: the recollections of Walter Mannot as a lively nine-year-old living in the former Dutch colony of the Netherlands East Indies Walter Mannot was born in the in the Netherlands East Indies in Kemanglen in central Java in 1932. His brother Read more
Vandersteen Family History Written by Johanna Wagenaar (nee, van der Steen). Johanna (Hannie) tells of the family’s sea journey from The Netherlands to Fremantle Western Australia on board the ‘Groote Beer’ in 1951, their reception by members of the Free Reformed Church, their adventures settling into a new country, and Read more
Anton Roodhuyzen: Memories of life as a child in a Japanese POW Camp in the former Netherlands East Indies My full name is Antonie Roodhuyzen, a male of European Dutch descent, born 1st December 1936 in the city of Malang, on the island of Java, in Indonesia, then the Netherlands Read more