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migrants who settled in southern Tasmania during the 1950s and '60s belonged to a variety of organizations established by church members. Most of their time was spent in each other's company and there were limited opportunities for interaction with either non-Reformed Dutch migrants or the native- born Australian population.

Customs and traditions with which these migrants had been familiar in the Netherlands became part of their way of life in Tasmania. These included having more elaborate family celebrations on Saint Nicolaas Day than Christmas Day. Religious ceremonies also included traditional regional customs. For example, the wedding ceremony was characterized by a high degree of informality and involved all Reformed Church members. The bride and bridegroom would arrive at the church together; with them were the bridesmaids and both families. There was no groomsman or bestman ru:d the father did not 'give away' his daughter. No rings were exchanged in the church and at the reception there were no formal speeches.

Traditional customs were also evident at the Calvin Christian School. In particular, the annual school fair which is arranged by the Parents' Association and held in October had a distinctively Dutch atmosphere. It became known as the

'Oliebollen Festival

' after the doughnut-like fare, traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve in the Netherlands, which was sold in large quantities.

The Dutch language, and more particularly the Groningen dialect, was a common medium of communication both among students at the

Calvin School and among adults in situations where there were no native-born Australians (Watt, 1980). It was not unusual to hear Dutch women speaking their native language in shops, on street corners and across fences. A Kingborough Council member's wife even went to the extent of learning Dutch so that she could converse more easily with the shopkeepers and the migrant women in Kingston.

While the social environment of the Kingston-Blackman's Bay area began to take on a Dutch atmosphere during the 1950s and '60s, so did its physical environment. Houses were built following the traditional Dutch style of brightly coloured exteriors with steep gabled roofs. This was particularly evident in the immediate vicinity of the Reformed Church and Maranoa Road where there was a concentration of residents of Dutch origin. Dutch builders recall traditional Dutch styles being imitated by Australian builders and decorators. This included the incorporation of large windows into houses which were then decorated with light weight curtains normally drawn throughout the day.

Interaction with non-Reformed Dutch and native-born Australians was limited. During the 1950s the Reformed Church membership included only a couple of native-born Australians both of whom were married to Dutch migrants.21 In the 1960s native-born Australians joined infrequently and typically remained as members for only a short period of time. When the Calvin Christian School was opened there was only one native-born Australian couple with membership in the Association for Christian Parent-Controlled Schools. Interaction with non-Reformed Church members of Dutch origin was largely confined to those who had been members of the

Hervormde Kerk

in the Netherlands and had chosen to join either the Presbyterian Church or the Baptist Church in Tasmania.

Prior to the 1950s native-born Australians in southern Tasmania had had extremely limited experiences of European migrants. They had no knowledge or understanding of the Reformed Church and tended to regard its members with suspicion. This attitude severly hindered any possibilities for the development of social relationships between them. 21

p�tt;;;� the Reformed Churches of Australia as a whole

in which growth through transfers from other denominations has been small (see

Appendix

B:

Table

4.8).

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Native-born Australians perceived the 'community', whose distinctive traits were visible in the Kingston-Blackman's Bay area, as an

ethnic

community. They interpreted Dutch national origin to be the basis for membership in this community and explained the fact that members interacted mainly with each other in terms of their common Dutch background. Indicative of this perception was their common reference to the 'Dutch Reform Church' and the 'Dutch School'. As a consequence of this perception it was assumed that all Dutch migrants, regardless of specific background characteristics, were at least marginally involved in this 'community'.

Using the socio-historical account of the settlement patterns of Reformed Dutch migrants in southern Tasmania an analysis of the process of adaptation will be made. Following the approach presented in Chapter Two this analysis will focus on processes of migration, organizational development, social networks and the identification of self and others.

and Settlement

In studies of immigrant adaptation both the Netherlands and Australia are typically classified as modern societies. It logically follows from this classification scheme that Dutch migration consists of the movement of people from one modern social structure to another. Consequently, the assimilation of Dutch migrants into Australian society is expected to proceed quickly and with relative ease. As discussed previously, large scale studies of the adaptation of Dutch migrants in Australia appear to support this hypothesis.

The data presented in this chapter do not support this perspective. A more comprehensive analysis of Netherlands society demonstrates that within its political boundaries there exist communities which vary in their relative levels of modernity. The same is also true of Australian

society. It is therefore necessary to identify more precisely the social structures of the 'society of origin' and the 'receiving society' before the process of adaptation can be explained.

The Dutch migrants who settled in Kingborough during the 1950s and '60s were drawn from a number of orthodox Calvinist groups, the majority having been members of the

Gereformeerde Kerken

while some had belonged to the

Hervormde Kerk

. Members of the

Gereformeerde Kerken

are not randomly distributed in the Netherlands but are concentrated in the northern provinces, particularly in Groningen. Membership in this church thus coincides with common regional allegiance and common dialect.

These Reformed Dutch migrants were therefore atypical of the Dutch population prior to emigration. This was the result of their membership in a geographically concentrated and socially isolated minority religious group with a unique world-view. They migrated to Tasmania from a traditional, relatively undifferentiated social structure in which social ties between members were diffuse and strong; quasi­ kinship in nature.

'Settlement' is a process 1n which the migrant adapts to the existing institutional structure of the receiving society, a response resulting from his typically limited economic and information resources. The migrant's main concern is to meet his immediate needs, for accommodation and employment, as quickly as possible so that he can establish a degree of economic security for himself and his family.

Breton (1964) points out that these needs can be met through the integration of the migrant in any number of communities in the receiving society. These include the host community, the migrant's own 'ethnic community' and other 'ethnic' communities. The range of communities available to the immigrant, however, is dependent upon

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the level of modernity in the receiving society and its immigration history.

Prior to World War Two non-British immigration to Australia had been limited but to Tasmania it had been negligible. Tasmania has been described as economically 'stagnant' prior to the Second World War (Townsley,1976:6) and although it developed rapidly in the twenty years after the war the average growth was, neverthless, much less than in the mainland states (Townsley, 1976:6).

After the war, Tasmania maintained a social structure which can be described as relatively less modern than that of the mainland states. The main exception to this process of non- modernization was in the manufacturing sector. Factory development increased rapidly after 1939 so that by the 1960s Tasmania "was relatively more industrialized than Western Australia and Queensland and the per capita value of production approximated that of South Australia" (Townsley,1976:5). Post-war immigration did not increase greatly (Townley,1976:6-7) so that the Tasmanian population remained relatively homogenous in ethnic terms. Thus, for post-war Dutch migrants settling in Tasmania there did not exist a number of ethnic communities within which they could become integrated. For them, settlement necessarily took place within the constraints of the relatively non-modernized institutional structure of the host community.

Through a process of chain migration during the 1950s a large number of Reformed Dutch migrants arrived in southern Tasmania as a relatively cohesive group. They were predominantly single males who had been sponsored and employed by a construction company which was owned and managed by Dutch migrants of similar background. The Australian Construction Company was located in a geographically isolated rural area and the residential pattern of its employees was characterized by a high level of concentration.

The characteristics of this chain migration were caused by a combination of the conditions set out in the Australian Immigration Act and the particular requirements of the directors of the Australian Construction Company. The Australian Immigration Act required potential immigrants to have a sponsor in Australia and some form of

employment pre-arranged prior to the time of emigration.22 The directors of the Australian Construction Company perceived a need to recruit skilled tradesmen from Europe and since they had contacts in Groningen the majority were recruited from this area.

During the initial stages of settlement the directors and employees of the Australian Construction Company had limited economic resources to draw upon. The directors received assistance from the building industry and the government, however, in establishing a

company which the government recognized had the potential to assist in the further expansion of the post-war Tasmanian economy. More importantly, the directors and its employees had important marketable skills which enabled the Australian Construction Company to achieve success rapidly. These included the business and management skills of the directors and the unique expertise and experience of its employees in the area of large-scale concrete construction. The knowledge and skills gained from involvement in a competitive European market enabled this company to successfully establish itself in the more traditional, less competitive market conditions in Tasmania. As a result, the traditional xenophobic attitudes of members of the host community were rekindled and the assistance given to the Australian Construction Company declined and eventually disappeared.

22.

Sponsorship was not a necessary condition for assisted passage; however, those

migrants without sponsors were subject to the authority and control of the Australian

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