The name New Holland (Hollandia Novae) appeared on maps depicting the continent of Australia after the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman charted the west coast of the continent in 1644. According to linguist Dr. Jan Tent (see paper below), the name was probably given to the continent by one of the Read more…
Queenie van de Zandt is the daughter of Ria and Hans van de Zandt. Hans is the co-founder of the Canberra Dutch Club in the ACT. Queenie mentioned that she is very proud to be Dutch and that parts of her Dutch heritage have influenced her writing. In particular in Read more…
Miniland was a theme park in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in 1972 by Peter Zorgdrager, a Dutch immigrant who was inspired by Dusneyland. The park featured a variety of giant sculptures, including dinosaurs, animals, and landmarks from around the world. It also had a children’s playground, Read more…
Het onbekende Zuidland naderbij’ by Jaap van der Veen is a catalogue of an exhibition about the history of Australia, the Aborigines and the Dutch explorers and emigrants. It is published by Volkenkundig Museum ‘Gerardus van der Leeuw’ in Groningen in 1988. It contains contributions from Don Grimes and other Read more…
In previous months we have highlighted Dutch literature in Australia and we continue this month with another collection of interesting and often forgotten books. However, some will recall nostalgic memories from those who arrives as children or as emigrants from the 1950s and 1960s. Land in de verte – 1952 Read more…
The Regeringscommissaris voor de Emigratie was a government commissioner for emigration who was appointed by the Dutch government in 1948 to coordinate and stimulate the emigration of Dutch citizens to other countries, especially after World War II. The commissioner was responsible for providing information, advice and assistance to potential emigrants, Read more…
Elizabeth Stukkien was born in 1942 in the Netherlands and emigrated to Australia in 1971 with her husband and four children. She worked as a teacher and a librarian in Perth and Brisbane. She died in 2017 in Brisbane and was survived by her husband, children and grandchildren. Hartog’s kinderen Read more…
Parliamentary inquiry into government policy 1940-1945 This parliamentary inquiry focused on the government policy of the cabinets De Geer, Gerbrandy and Schermerhorn, since the German invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and in relation to Netherlands East indies (NEI) the war with Japan until the opening of the Read more…
The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne is presenting an exhibition dedicated to the work of seventeenth-century Dutch master Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Rembrandt: True to life follows the work of Rembrandt from early work in Leiden through to his final years in Amsterdam, with more than 100 works Read more…
Unlike the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) Army and its Air Force, the Koninklijke Marine (KM – Royal Netherlands Navy) that operated in NEI, was part of the Dutch Navy. They resorted under the Minister for the Navy at the Dutch Government-in-Exile in London. By mid February, the Governor the Netherlands Read more…