The following historic videos provide a glimpse into the life of a Dutch migrant family living in Wollongong during the 1950's.
In the first video Agatha is making tea for her family. The tea caddy she is using was given to her by her husband Kees as a gift on St Nicholas day.
From a sweeping panorama of the backyard you can see it was a large block, with an outside toilet and substantial veggie patch. Many migrants were resourceful in utilising their backyard -growing vegetables and keeping chickens. To have your own car was not typical during the 1950's in Wollongong, and generally only the corner store was within walking distance.
Video 1: Corrimal circa 1952. Posted by W. de Jong. De Jong family archives.
Video 2: Railway Parade Corrimal circa 1956. Posted by W. de Jong. De Jong family archives.
Three of the blonde haired children in the video belong to Agatha and Kees, whilst the others are the children of another Dutch family who were boarding at the house during this time. During the 1940's and 1950's there were housing shortages in cities and towns across Australia including Wollongong. Many migrants lived in temporary accommodation such as tents, caravans, garages or sheds whilst their house was being built.
The article below describes what it was like for the Van Duin family living in East Corrimal in the 1950's. As a large family they shared close living quarters whilst they worked towards building a house. Ms Van Duin now attribute's their closeness as a family to the time they shared together during their early days in East Corrimal.
