When and why did you move to Australia? I came to Australia as a backpacker, to travel and work. My sister advised me I could work on farms and do other casual jobs. I travelled to Queensland from Sydney with a guy I met there (we keep in touch until this Read more
When and why did your parents move to Australia? My parents arrived separately in Australia after WWII. My mother was 19, and came with her family, while my father was 25 and came on his own. I have always been interested in their story. It can’t have been easy for them to Read more
Zing! Sing in Dutch Zing! is a Melbourne based Dutch choir that was formed in mid-2016 from an expressed interest in the Dutch community for a place to sing in Dutch, and meet other Dutch speakers. The choir is open to all people – whether or not they have previous Read more
Motivation, Intention and Assimilation Author: Kees Wierenga A thesis submitted as part of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History, School of History and Classics University of Tasmania October, 2005. The object of this thesis is to examine the motivations, intentions and the attempted Read more
By Elisabeth (Elly) Anderson – October 2006 Whilst researching the early history of a mainly Irish-administered Catholic community in the Adelaide Hills some years ago I was intrigued to find that the first documented visit of a priest, back in the 19th century, had been by a Dutchman. Being Dutch-born Read more
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
Interviewed by Klaas Woldring | Interview Series 2014 From the Netherlands to Australia 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 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
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
A remarkable Dutch merchant ship and its escape to Australia Among the many Dutch merchant ships that played a vital role in the defence of Australia during the Second World War, few have a more remarkable story than the MS Abbekerk. Carrying arms and ammunition through increasingly dangerous waters, surviving Read more