Watze & Jantje STEEGSTRA

Story

Watze and Jantje Steegstra (nee Van Dijk), were born in the rural area of a province in northern Netherland called Friesland not too far from each other.

Watze was born near Marrum on the 25th of June 1924 into a farming family. Watze left school at an early age to help on the family farm, however with 4 boys in the family (Watze was the third-eldest son), the farm was not large enough to keep them all fully employed. The usual practice was for the eldest son to take over the farm.

Jantje was born near Wester Nykerk on the 15th of April 1928, the youngest in the family. She had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Jantje left school at 13 to work for 2 days per week helping a neighbour with domestic duties. At other times, she helped her mother, or sometimes her father, who leased some land to grow vegetables for the family. Jantje\’s father had a small amount of land on which he kept 2 or 3 goats for milk. He also grew beets and turnips to feed the goats.

Watze met Jantje when she was 17; however, even though they tried to keep their friendship a secret, it wasn\’t long before they were found out. Fortunately, Jantje\’s parents must have liked Watze because, once Jantje turned 18, he was invited to come to the house. Much of their courtship was done during the German occupation and because of the curfew, they needed to be very careful when they went out, making sure they were not caught.

Watze and Jantje were married in 1948 and the following year a daughter, Riemke, was born. Having a family to support, and with a lack of any sort of future in agriculture at that time in Holland, Watze decided they should immigrate to Australia for a better future. Watze and Jantje therefore applied for, and subsequently obtained, a part sponsorship to work in the agricultural industry in Australia.

In late 1951 Watze and Jantje, together with their daughter Riemke, set sail for Australia on the MS Skaubryn, a modified Norwegian freighter. When the weather was fine they enjoyed the journey, however during rough weather many passengers had to deal with sea-sickness. The other challenge facing them, and most of their fellow passengers, were the meals prepared by the Italian cooks. The Dutch were not used to the spiciness of the Italian cuisine. Children\’s meals were much better, so anyone with young children enjoyed going with their children for their meals. Any food left by the children wasn\’t wasted and the children were often given extra treats by the Italian cooks, who liked the ‘bambinos\’.

In February 1952 the ship arrived in Sydney from where sponsored passengers were sent by train to the immigration camp in Bathurst. The trip from Sydney through the Blue Mountains was quite an experience, for the Dutch were not used to seeing that type of terrain.

Having cousins already living in Australia, Watze and Jantje were somewhat prepared for what Australia would be like. However, their first impressions on their arrival in Bathurst were of a dry land with lots of rabbits.

Watze and family spent almost 6 weeks in the camp (where the camp manager tried to encourage Watze to take a position working for NSW rail) before being offered an agricultural position on a sheep property in Broadford, Northern Victoria. This is where the family spent their first 2 years in Australia.

After they had stayed the 2 years required under the sponsorship agreement, the family moved to a cattle and sheep property in Baynton East, Victoria, where they lived for 5 years. Their second daughter, Jane, was born soon after the move and later their third daughter, Irene, was born. The family were naturalised as Australian citizens in a ceremony held in Kyneton in July 1958.

The family\’s next move was in 1959, to a dairy farm near Wonthaggi, Victoria, where Watze obtained a share-farming position. In 1964, after 5 years of share farming, Watze and Jantje purchased a small dairy farm of their own in the Victorian town of Bass, where they remained for almost 18 years.

As there were no sons to pass the farm on to, and none of the daughters wanted to stay in farming, the farm was sold in 1981. Watze and Jantje then spent a few years caravanning around Australia before they bought their home in Wonthaggi. Watze and Jantje have 7 grand children and 4 great grand children. Jantje passed away in June 2005 and is survived by Watze who still lives in their home, where he enjoys his vegetable garden and fishing. Watze has no regrets about his decision to migrate to Australia.

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