KEROSENE COOKER - GRATE

Purchased by the Slobbe family in Holland and brought with them when they migrated to Australia in 1949. The kerosene cooker was used in the family home to cook family meals when they lived in Australia, including when they moved to Armadale in July 1949. It was regularly used up to the 1970s.
The Slobbe family left Rotterdam aboard the 'Volendam' on 11 December 1948, arriving in Fremantle on 13 January 1949. The reason for leaving as described by Aart Slobbe was the 'slow progress after the war, and also another important thing being the cold weather.' The family moved to Berverly where the Butler's, a Dutch family who were also members of the Reformed Church like the Slobbe's, had migrated twenty five years earlier. Aart Slobe was disappointed with the lack of religious observance by the Butler family so decided to move on.
On 13 July 1949 the family moved to Armadale, settling in a house with a paddock and orchard on 1 North-South Road (today Hopkinson Road). The property was on the corner with Tiara Court and five miles south of Armadale. Aart had a job working for Mr Price, who had recently moved to the Armadale region from England and had purchased a dairy. The house was owned by Mr Price.
As recommended by Church Elders in Holland the Slobbe family attended the local Presbyterian Church. Aart would write back to the Reformed church congregation in Holland inviting other families to move to the region. Soon another family, the Bosvelds, would arrive and start a steady stream of Dutch families looking for new opportunities who would make the local region their new home.