A migration project built around a business The Australian Building Corporation (ABC) was established in 1950 by a group of Dutch migrants from Groningen who planned to create a new future in Tasmania through a cooperative building enterprise. The original Read more
From Winsum to Tasmania Geert de Haan was born on 8 October 1911 and worked as a building contractor in Winsum, a town approximately 15 kilometres northwest of Groningen in the Netherlands. In 1950, he joined a group of Dutch Read more
From Groningen to Australia Jan de Vries was born on 28 December 1910 in Groningen, the Netherlands. Before emigrating to Australia, he worked as a shopkeeper and lived at Nieuwe Ebbingestraat 44/1 in Groningen. He was one of the Groningen Read more
Early life and wartime experiences Jan Thomas Steen was born on 30 August 1912 in Groningen, the Netherlands. Before emigrating to Australia, he worked as a municipal official and lived in Van Heemskerckstraat in Groningen. During the German occupation of Read more
Wartime experiences in the Netherlands Eerke Jacob van der Laan (born 31 October 1903 in Groningen) was one of the leading figures in the organised migration of Dutch families to Kingston, Tasmania, in 1950. Before the Second World War, he Read more
From Groningen to Tasmania Egbert (Eb) Pinkster was born on 6 August 1910 in Groningen, the Netherlands. He was one of the original Groningen Seven, a group of Dutch men who organised a migration venture to Tasmania following the Second Read more
The story of Leendert and Neeltje Visser, their journey aboard the Sibajak, and the Dutch migrant families who established new lives in regional Victoria. In June 1951, the Visser family arrived in Melbourne aboard the Dutch passenger ship Sibajak. They Read more
Titia Jacomina van Riel (née Vijverberg) was born in The Hague on 21 May 1922. Her life spanned the German occupation of the Netherlands, the turbulent years of Indonesian independence and the challenges of establishing a new home and raising Read more
Wartime experiences in the Netherlands Pieter Laning was born on 2 February 1914 and lived in Groningen, the Netherlands. During the German occupation in the Second World War, he became involved in the Dutch Resistance. Kees Wierenga’s historical research records Read more
Dutch migrants seek to establish a community in Kingston In September 1950, two Dutch migrants, Eerke van der Laan and Egbert (Eb) Pinkster, appeared before Kingborough Council in southern Tasmania to discuss plans for a Dutch settlement at Kingston. The Read more