Ann & Bill Lammerts van Bueren

Story

The Lammerts van Bueren Family\’s Migration History.

In 1961, with further unrest in Germany and having lived through the terrible Second World War in the Netherlands, Willem and Johanna (Bill and Ann) decided to move their young family to a safer place to live. Rejected by New Zealand on the basis they had no male children they decided to head for Australia instead. So with four young daughters, Paula, Ellen, Linda and Desiree, in tow, they left Holland in December 1961 on the SS Waterman, in search of a big ‘adventure\’ in a new, remote and peaceful land.

This was one year when Christmas was not celebrated as our ship was hit a big storm off the coast of Portugal and most passengers and many crew succumbed to seasickness.

By the time the family arrived at their first port of call in The Dutch Antilles, Ann and Bill had discovered that all their containers with furniture and summer clothing were not on board the SS Waterman. By mistake they were on their way to America. This meant we had a good time shopping at the markets in Curacao for new summer clothing and straw hats.

The rest of the voyage passed relatively uneventfully, the adults spent time attending English classes while most of the children on board participated in lots of fun activities organised by the cruise director. We spent hours spotting alligators on the shores of the Panama Canal, from the safety of the ship as it travelled slowly through all the locks. Locals serenaded passengers while our ship was docked in Tahiti overnight and many enjoyable hours were spent exploring Wellington when the ship reached New Zealand. During the trip we had seen many dolphins playing in the waters around the ship, but on entering Port Phillip Bay these were replaced by many sharks instead.

From Melbourne our family travelled during the night by train to Wodonga. Ann and Bill were worried when they saw stores with wide verandas, hitching rails and horse troughs Ð had they arrived in the Wild West or the centre of Australia maybe even Alice Springs? From here we travelled by bus to the Bonegilla Migrant Centre which we came to call ‘home\’ for the next eight years.

Ann worked in the Bonegilla kindergarten as an assistant, and Bill at various jobs within the migrant centre. As his accounting qualifications were not recognised in Australia, Bill had also nominated himself as a painter, like his father before him. He travelled to Canberra in a work party with several other ‘painters\’ to paint the Russian Embassy in 1962. For many years he boasted of having walked across Lake Burley Griffin, which at that time was only a river! Bill also worked as the overseer of several Bonegilla accommodation blocks, managed the Bonegilla Youth Centre and spent several years on the front gate of the Migrant Centre.

As children we loved the freedom of living in Bonegilla and especially having Lake Hume on our doorstep during the summer months. We still reminisce about the wonderful years of growing up in Bonegilla where we made many good friends with the local farming community.

Ann and Bill made many friends in and around the border town of Wodonga, where they settled after leaving Bonegilla. Here they became very much part of the local community.

They encouraged us girls to further our education in Melbourne and Canberra. They watched as we grew up, married and settled in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Dederang (near Wodonga). They lived to see their grandchildren grow up and greeted great-grandchildren with love.

Ann and Bill only made one return trip to their birth country to see their families and friends and admitted to having had a great time, but both were very pleased to come home to Australia. Our parents never regretted their decision to migrate to foreign shores and proudly called Australia home from the time they arrived in Australia on Australia Day in 1962.

Ellen Jones

July 2009

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