Abraham Leeman van Santwitz (Santwits, Santwijk), a 17th-century Dutch sailor, embodies the spirit of resilience and leadership in the face of overwhelming adversity. His experiences as a navigator with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) are a testament to the perils and challenges of maritime exploration during this era, particularly Read more…
Anton van den Hengel is likely the only person born in the Netherlands who is also a fourth-generation Port Adelaidian. His father’s family hails from Amsterdam, specifically from the Jordaan district. Before settling in Amsterdam, the van den Hengels originated from a small town near Utrecht. Anton’s grandparents owned a Read more…
While on an extended visit from the Netherlands to Perth WA at the homes of his shipbuilding sons Dick and Nick, he stayed and established together with them, Australian Shipbuilding Industries Limited. Dick Verboon, a ship’s carpenter, recalls that to get into a boat building in Fremantle in the 1950s, Read more…
David Bos, a Dutch immigrant, arrived in Sydney in the 1930s. During World War II, he played a crucial role as manager of the Netherlands Canteen. This canteen became a vital social hub for Dutch military personnel after the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies in 1942. After the Read more…
The following information is abstracted from an interview with Robert Caporn (Ian) . Conducted by the UNSW Australians at War Film Archive in Canberra In this interview Ian also talks (briefly) about the Dutch and based on that information I have abstracted the following article. Paul Budde Dynamics and Attitudes: Read more…
Anna Siebenhaar, the older sister of Willem Siebenhaar, followed his brother from the Netherlands to Perth, Australia in the 1890s. In 1896 at the age of 42 she married Edgar Semmens at Coolgardie In 1908, Anna was appointed the Australasian representative of the ‘Het Algemeen Nederlandsch Verbond’ (the ANV or Read more…
Karel (1921-1999) en Gerard (1923-2006) van het Reve are two of the Netherlands most important post-WWII authors. Their mother, Net Jannetta Jacoba Doornbusch (1892-1959), simply Net, came from Almelo. Her father Kornelis worked in the textile industry and had a small farm. There were ten siblings in the family, including Read more…
.Willem Krins, born on 4 June 1907 in Dordrecht, he married Johanna Paulina van Roijen on 23 December 1931 in The Hague. They had at least 1 son. Willem passed away on 1 November 1980 in Templestowe, Victoria, Australia, at 73 years old and was buried in Templestowe Cemetery. Willem Read more…
Vertrek is a lively, wide-ranging social biography about fifteen postwar Australian-Dutch families, taking central stage is the Paulusse family. Candidly narrated by Kees Paulusse, the son of Dutch immigrants to Melbourne in the early sixties, this chronicles the family’s adventure and his own perceptions and experience. Vertrek begins on November Read more…
Early Career and Rise to Prominence Jan (later John, Johnny) Van Oosten was born in The Hague. The family emigrated to Australia in 1954, when Jan was 7 years old. They settled in Victoria Park. His father was Dutch, his mother Polish, they had met each other in Germany where Read more…