The first known Dutch encounters with the Aborigines in Australia took place during the 17th century, when Dutch ships were looking for new trading opportunities and made voyages of discovery to the region now known as Australia. It’s worth noting, however, that the lack of recorded incidents does not mean Read more
In 1795 the Netherlands was conquered by the French revolutionary armies and annexed by Napoleon. The Netherlands, now being a client state of France brought them in conflict with France’ s arch enemy Britain. As a result, the British launched a series of campaigns against Dutch colonies around the world, Read more
A Voyage to New South Wales from the journal of a Ship’s Doctor An early Dutch writer on Sydney in the 1840s was P van Os. His book “Reis naar Nieuw-Zuid-Wallis. Uit het dagboek van een scheepsdokter” was edited for children. It is a curious semi-fictional work and although it Read more
Despite the poor level of language retention among the descendants of the Netherlands-born, Dutch remains an important community language in Sydney. In 2002 a new Dutch syllabus was introduced to the New South Wales Higher School Certificate. However, the number of students sitting for Dutch exams at the end of Read more
From Baarn to the Netherlands East Indies Evert Herman van Hummel was born in Baarn, the Netherlands, on 29 January 1916. He was known variously as Evert and Herman. Fascinated by engines from an early age, he left secondary school when he was fifteen and became an apprentice motor mechanic. Read more
Just as there have been extreme weather events in Australia last year carrying over into this year resulting in devastating floods over large areas of Australia resulting in loss of life, livelihood and billions of dollars’ worth of damage to property and infrastructure, so there was seventy years ago an Read more
Two Dutchmen who are members of the same extended family – although three generations apart – made noticeable contributions to Australian culture, by just going about their business. One was artist Jan Hendrik Scheltema, who migrated to Australia in the 19th century. The other was his great-nephew Cas Jeekel, who Read more
The Douglas DC-3 now preserved at the Queensland Air Museum in Caloundra has an exceptional Dutch–Australian history. Built for KLM in 1937 and named Wielewaal—Dutch for Golden Oriole—it served on the Amsterdam–Batavia route, escaped from Java carrying Lieutenant Governor-General Hubertus van Mook, entered Allied military service in Australia and was Read more
The first edition of the song book ” Kun je nog zingen zing dan mee” (If you can still sing, sing along) was published in 1906 and the book has had numerous editions since. It is one of the most published books in Dutch publishing., with over a million copies Read more
The Bible was donated to the DACC by Ellie Zinsmeester. It dates from 1768 and was deaccessioned (officially disposed off) by the church around 1940. It was brought to Australia when Ellie’s father migrated to Australia. Karma Rowe from the Dutch Genealogy Group, who previously restored some books for the Read more