Adrian (Adrianus) van Hamond

Story

I am the eldest son of Lambertus (Bert) and Adolphina (Fien) van Hamond. I was born towards the end of World War Two in January 1945. We lived in Utrecht Holland and migrated to Australia on the 20th March 1953.

I have two sisters Gerarda (Gerda)1946 and one brother Johannes (Hans) 1949 both born in Holland and my youngest sister Marian born in Australia 1956.

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In 1966 I married a wonderful Australian girl and we have five wonderful children Toni-Louise, Michael, Paul Lisa and Mandi they and their partners between them have eleven children they all live in various parts of Australia .

Like many people in Holland the Second World War had been hard for my family with adequate housing in short supply and employment likewise was scarce. In late 1952 Dad & Mum decided to migrate to Australia to give their children and themselves a better chance in life. Having passed all the necessary medical tests the family was told that there was a six to twelve month waiting period. This did not worry them as it left them plenty of time to learn some more English and make adequate plans for their journey they were about to undertake to a new country.

In January of 1953 severe floods struck Holland with severe damage to homes and buildings with the goverment having to go into overdrive to aid those affected so they brought forward their imigration policy.

Early in March Dad was called into the Immigration Office to be advised that if he and his family still wanted to migrate to Australia they had to be ready to leave by the 20th of March.

Those people who had passed all migration requirements were being moved out as quickly as possible to provide housing for the flood victims, This left the family very little time to sort their possessions all they were allowed to take was about three cubic meters of personnel possessions.

On the 20th March 1953 their were tearful farewells to Parents and Family at Schidpol Airport Amsterdam flying K.L.M. on board the Flying Dutchman. The journey to Australia in those days took about seven days with stopovers every night in paces like Rome, Damascus, Karachi, Calcutta, Singapore, Perth and finely Melbourne.

After finely arriving in Melbourne we were transported by train to Bonegilla an ex-army camp near Albury N.S.W. Here the accommodation was in Galvanized ex-army huts, with communal showers and dining facilities. Life was not easy for families in their first months in a new country with little of the English language and the heat and size of the country also amazed them.

After several months in the Bonegilla camp the family moved to Daylesford for several months and from there we moved to Ballarat and then finely settling in Creswick. Where we were one of the first Dutch families to settle there. The Catholic Church at that time had just purchased the old Railway Hotel in Creswick to convert into a Migrant Hostel. Dad & Mum were asked by the Church if they would like to manage the hostel on a voluntary basis which they did for many years until it was closed down.

The family were naturalised as Australian citizens in late 1958. After going back to Holland in 1973 they were very disappointed at what they saw and never were intrested in going back.

They bought themselves a caravan and travelled around Australia extensively for many years and enjoyed the Australian life style.

Dad & Mum have now passed away Dad passed away in 2004 aged 89, and Mum passed away in 2007 aged 90.

We as a family are very grateful to our parents for making the move to Australia though we are also proud of our Dutch heritage.

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