Mattheus Jacob Bons, known as Theo, was born in Sliedrecht on 2 October 1920. He was the son of Pieter Cornelis Bons, a contractor and dredgemaster, and Antje Francijna de Haan.
On 24 May 1949, Theo married Martina Meinsje Smits in Sliedrecht. Martina, known in Australia as Tinie, was born in Wijngaarden on 30 January 1926. She was the daughter of dairy farmer Willem Smits and Cornelia Francosia Noteboom.
Their first child, Pieter, was born in Bleskensgraaf en Hofwegen on 18 April 1950 but died only five days later. Theo and Tinie therefore faced the loss of their infant son shortly before their planned departure for Australia.
According to the surviving KLM seating plan, Theo travelled to Melbourne on the organised flight of 22 June 1950. The name Bons appears beside seat J1. His family background and inclusion on this flight connect him with the Dutch dredging workers recruited for the Australian project.
Tinie is not separately identified on the seating plan. She may have travelled under a different registration or followed Theo later, but her precise journey has not yet been established. The couple nevertheless settled permanently in Australia, where their family also included Bill and Corrie.
A later passenger record indicates that Theo arrived back in Melbourne aboard the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt on 5 May 1958. He had possibly visited the Netherlands, although the reason for the journey and whether Tinie accompanied him remain unknown.
Theo died on 11 July 1992 and was buried at Leongatha Cemetery in Victoria. Tinie died on 18 August 2020 and was buried at the same cemetery.
Their story reflects the experiences of an Alblasserwaard family whose migration was closely connected with Sliedrecht’s internationally active dredging industry. It also illustrates how incomplete passenger records can leave important questions about the journeys of wives and children still to be resolved.
This account is based on family-history and migration research undertaken by Fred Stuij. Gravestone photograph: BillionGraves. Dredge photograph: Historische Vereniging Sliedrecht.
For the wider history of this organised migration project, see From Sliedrecht to Williamstown: Dutch dredging workers in post-war Australia.
More related company histories, archival sources and personal stories are available through the Dutch Dredging in Australia Research Portal.
