WILHELMUS TYS
| First name | WILHELMUS |
|---|---|
| Last name | TYS |
| Country of Origin | Holland |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1952 |
| Submitted by | Natalie Barnett |
Story
Life in the homeland
WILHELMUS CHRISTIANUS TYS (originally TIJS) was born on 28 June 1920 in Eindhoven, Holland. His father was a cigar manufacturer while his mother raised their four children, with Wil the youngest.
On completing primary school in 1933, Wil\’s father took him to an open day at Philips Industries where he observed glassblowing. It was the manipulation of the hot, molten glass that captured the imagination of the teenage Wil and he decided that mastering the art of glassblowing was what he wanted do.
Wil finished an apprenticeship with Philips, which provided training in the practical and theoretical aspects of glassblowing.
Wil went on to work for Philips and later the Royal Dutch Shell Company. With further training he achieved the award of Master Glassblower from Leyden University, one of only 12 to have achieved this award since its inception in 1911.
In 1942 Wil married Antonia (Toni) Gravestein and over the next seven years they had five children Ð Mieke, Harry, Paul, Bill and Martha.
Deciding to emigrate
Times were hard due to Holland\’s occupation during WWII. Housing, employment, food and money were scarce, and raising five children was difficult. Wil also thought about his own future prospects and those of his family, so he started thinking about the possibility of starting afresh in a new land, having read about opportunities in countries such as America, Australia and New Zealand.
So Wil was quite receptive to emigration when, in 1949 Professor Sir Mark Oliphant was in Holland looking to recruit a glassblower who could handle the glass operations at the newly established Australian National University in Canberra.
Toni was not as receptive and was reluctant to leave family, friends and the known environment. It took considerable effort on the part of Wil to secure Toni\’s acceptance. Part of Toni\’s agreement was assurances about matters such as housing, relocation costs and superannuation, all of which Wil successfully negotiated with the ANU.
The journey
On 5 January 1952 the family boarded the SS Skaubryn from Rotterdam to begin the six week journey to Sydney. While some of the family suffered sea sickness, it was a real adventure enjoyed especially by the older children. A particularly memorable part of the voyage was sailing through the Suez Canal, with the colorful merchants in their skiffs selling handcrafts to those on board. They arrived in Sydney on 11 February and continued by air to Canberra and to their temporary accommodation in Brassey House.
Impressions on arrival
The family\’s first impressions of Australia were generally those of amazement at this totally different environment and culture. Matters to be overcome included the language barriers (not just English but the Aussie slang!), the vastly different foods (pumpkin, lamb, hot pies!), the locals\’ often disdaining view of migrants (especially hard for the children at their schools) and the inevitable homesickness, especially for Toni.
Life in Australia
Wil set about establishing the glassblowing operations at the ANU, which was to be the premier facility of its kind in Australia. Its establishment was not without difficulties, in accessing suitable gas, burners and other equipment, and glass. The facility became an indispensable resource for scientists and researchers at the ANU but also in organisations such as the CSIRO and the Bureau of Mineral Resources. Having a facility which could tailor-make intricate scientific equipment from glass greatly enhanced the capacity of Australia\’s scientific community. Wil\’s contribution was recognised in 1970 when he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study the use of glass for research purposes in other countries.
Life for the family in Australia has been very good Ð house and car ownership eventually became a reality (the first car was a Morris Minor with a homemade station wagon body and a wooden plank for a back seat!). The family\’s income was supplemented by a small distilled water business and Toni did some dressmaking. Camping holidays to the beach became a regular occurrence. Schooling and further education were excellent, jobs for the children were plentiful and the children established families of their own producing quite a number of new little Australians. As of November 2007, Wil and Toni (deceased) have 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.