'Going for a better future'
When Adriana Zevenbergen first thought of coming to Australia with her husband Cornelis in the early 1950s she never could have imagined that years later she would arrive at Melbourne’s Station Pier as Australia’s 100,000th Dutch migrant. The young couple considered making the big move before they married in 1953 but postponed their dreams of migrating to Australia for 6 years.
The couple’s adventurous spirit was rekindled in 1957 after receiving letters from one of Adriana’s childhood friends who had settled with her husband and 5 children in Newcastle, New South Wales.
By then Adriana and Cornelis had their own family, 4-year-old Kees and 1-year-old Addo. ‘We are going for a better future for my husband and 2 sons,’ Adriana told the Australian Women's Weekly before the family packed up and left for Australia.
In June 1958 the Zevenbergens submitted an application to the Australian Migration Office in The Hague for assisted passage to Australia under the Netherlands Australia Migration Agreement. The young family typified the Australian government’s image of the type of migrants viewed as most desirable for Australia at the time. Adriana was an accomplished housewife raising 2 young children and Cornelis was a skilled engineering fitter employed at the Caltex oil refinery. The selection officer described the family as ‘an excellent family group’ who would integrate well into Australian society. As a result, Adriana was chosen to carry the title of Australia’s 100,000th Dutch migrant soon after their application was accepted.
A great deal of excitement
As promotion for the Australian government’s migration programs, much was made of milestone arrivals, such as the 100,000th Dutch Migrant Mrs. Adriana Zevenbergen.
A great deal of excitement accompanied the Zevenbergens’ journey to ensure maximum publicity in both the Netherlands and Australia. Official photographers took more than 100 black-and-white and colour photographs of the family at home in the Netherlands and of the formal receptions in Melbourne on arrival. The family was presented with gifts to help them settle into their new life including a new fridge and washing machine.
Newly found fame
On their arrival, Adriana Zevenbergen and her family were treated to gifts, dinner receptions with government officials and media attention. Adriana’s son Addo recalls his mother’s newly-found fame:
I was too young to remember our arrival but growing up I was always reminded that Mum was famous. With all that attention, she saw herself as a celebrity!
– Quote from interview with Addo Zevenbergen, January 2012.
'A good spot'
In 1960 Cornelis and Adriana Zevenbergen with their sons Kees and Addo moved into their own 3-bedroom brick veneer home. It was built to Cornelis' design in the Geelong suburb of Newtown. 'We grew up in a semi-rural area on the outskirts of Geelong,' Addo recalls. 'We spent our time swimming in the river, catching rabbits and snakes and lizards. It was a great area to grow up in.' A third son, Ricky was born in 1963.
Adriana and Cornelis continued to live in the Geelong home long after their children grew up and left. 'They never moved from the original house,' Addo says. 'It was a good spot. In the 1970s they built upstairs.' After Cornelis died in 1983, Adriana stayed in the family home until her death in May 2006, aged 75.
