John Adams

1. Last name: Westhoff: Recorded in several spellings including Westhof, Westhoff, Westhofer, and cognates such as Westfal, Westhaus, Westheim, and Westheimer, this is a surname of Germanic origins. It is residential and translates either as the occupier of a house or probably a farm to the west (of the town or village), or it describes somebody who works at such a place, or it is locational from a place called Westhaus, Westhoff or similar, of which there are a number of examples in the German speaking countries. Locational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original home to move somewhere else. In so doing they took or more often were given, as their surname, the name of their former home. Spelling over the centuries being at best indifferent, and local accents very strong, often lead to the development of variant forms. In this case early examples of the name recording include Peter Westofer of the city of Worms in the charters of that place in 1356, and Heinrich Westhaus of Munster, in 1576.

2. The third, largest wave of Germanic-speaking immigrants into Hungary occurred due to a deliberate settlement policy of the Habsburg government after the expulsion of the Ottoman Empire from Hungarian territory. Between 1711 and 1780, German-speaking settlers from Southern Germany, Austria, and Saxony immigrated to the regions of Southwest Hungary, Buda, Banat and Szatmár County. This influx of immigrants helped to bring economic recovery and cultural distinction to these regions. At the end of the 18th century, the Kingdom of Hungary contained over one million German-speaking residents. During this time, a flourishing German-speaking culture could be found in the kingdom, with German-language literary works, newspapers, and magazines being produced. A German language theater also operated in the kingdom's capital, Budapest. Throughout the 19th century, a strong German industrial community developed, with glass-blowing, foundries, and masonry being particularly important. In response to this, the second half of the century saw the rise of a strong Hungarian nationalist political movement, whose purpose was to retain German economic power by assimilating the German-speaking citizens into Hungarian culture. As a mean toward this end, the German language was slowly replaced with the Hungarian language. By 1918, at the end of World War I, almost 2 million Danube Swabians and other German-speaking peoples lived in what is now present-day Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia and the former Yugoslav republics. Between 1918 and 1945 several factors greatly reduced the number of German-speaking residents in the kingdom so much that only thirty percent of the original German-speaking population was left after World War II. The number of Germans in the Hungarian kingdom was more than halved by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, as the kingdom was forced to make large cessions of its territory to neighboring countries.

3. At this point (20/08/2015) I have 3 generations of Westhoffs living in what is now southern Hungary (Segedin) & Northern Serbia (Topolya), going back to the mid-1800’s. Ignatz J. (or Ignatius Joseph) Westhoff (B. 28/11/1869 Hungary D. 03/12/1948 Ohio and his wife Rosina (or Rosa) Pavle (or Pavla) (B. 1876 Hungary) arrived in New York on the ship "Kaiser Wilhelm 1" after departing Bremen in Germany on 22/02/1909. They were from Topolya (or Topola) in what is now northern Serbia, but then in Hungary. It is close to Segedin where their son Joseph Louis Westhoff was born. They arrived in the US with the Bodwin family from the same town. There are many generations on the male side with “Joseph” as the forename and “Rosa/Rosina” on the female side. Joseph L Westhoff and his brother Nicklos came to the US in 1912 with their Grandmother Eva on the ship “Breslau”.

4. The Trapp family originate from Germany with Margaret Trapp (her married surname) born there around 1838. Her son Nicholas Trapp (Joan Westhoff’s Grandfather) was born in Ohio around 1858, so they probably immigrated to the US just prior. Nicholas married a German lady in Ohio with the very English name of Elizabeth Brown!

5. Joseph Louis Westhoff registered for the Draft near the end of WW1 in 1918 (note his father, Ignatz Westhoff, is listed as his closest relative). Also he states he is a citizen of “Austria Hungary” which is another term for the Austro-Hungarian Empire which was just about to be dissolved. In the 1940 US Census, it states he was born in Yugoslavia. He was actually born in the town of Segedin, in southern Hungary. This town is immediately adjacent to the current northern border of Serbia. European borders certainly moved around! His father, Ignatz, appears to have been born in the Serbian side of the border.

6. Flora Joan Trapp (Jaclyn’s Grandma) was the youngest of 4 sisters. Her Father, Alfred J Trapp died 2 months after she was born in 1929. He was a Coal Dealer, which his wife Mary is listed as in the 1940 US Census. Presumably they had established a business and she took over the running of it whilst raising her 4 daughters. I haven’t been able to trace it yet, so this is just an assumption (19/08/2015).

7. Joseph (Joe) John Westhoff co-founded Atlantic Concrete with Jack Ditcher in 1969. It is based in Tullytown, Pennsylvania. His eldest son, Joseph Alfred Westhoff is the current President.

1. The oldest traced Abba is Thomas Abba, born in Kendal, Westmorland, in 1810. He married Hannah Harrison in the early 1830’s and was a Bobbin Turner (used a lathe to make the wooden bobbins used in textile mills). He enjoyed wrestling (as did his oldest sons) and has an entry in the 1840 Westmorland Gazette.

2. Thomas and Hannah’s children were: Harrison b. 1834, Thomas b. 1838, Agness b.1840, Mary b. 1844, Sarah b. 1849 and Robert b. 1853. All three sons were Bobbin Turners. Harrison was sentenced to 3 months hard labour after an assault. Robert married Elizabeth Thistlewaite in 1874 and had one son, William, who eventually moved to Carlisle where that branch of the Abba family are going today! I don’t know what happened to Elizabeth, but Robert remarried in 1885 to Harriet Frances Knight. Their eldest child was James Knight Abba and his youngest child was James Knight Abba. Their youngest grand daughter was Marjorie Knight Hutchinson, Jenny’s Mum. William Abba’s youngest son was also James Knight Abba, so he must have thought well of his Step-Mother!

3. When Joan Hutchinson was born in 1920, she was raised by her Grandparents, Robert and Harriet Abba in Cumberland. Joan was granted a prize of 100 pounds by the Gilbert Murray Trust Fund for studies of ancient Greece in 1957 (see above under Hutchison).

4. The youngest child of Robert and Harriet Abba was Maggie Abba (b. 1894), an Apprentice Dressmaker in the 1911 Census. She married John Henry Cecil Hutchinson in December 1918.

1. The oldest Hutchinson I’ve been able to trace is Henry Walker Hutchinson, who appears on his son John’s marriage registration, but there are no other details. John was born ca. 1837, so presumably Henry was born in the late 1700’s-early 1800’s. John became a Solicitor’s Clerk, living in Gateshead.

2. John Hutchinson married Ann Arnison of Cumberland in 1866 and was a Solicitor’s Clerk in the 1871 Census (and remained so through to the 1901 Census). The name Arnison is carried in middle names, eg. their son, John Arnison Hutchinson and grandson, Charles Arnison Hutchinson. Ann was the daughter of Joseph Arnison, who in the 1841 Census was a Shoemaker living in the High Street of Gateshead. He was, however born in Penrith in Cumberland around 1815/16. He married Frances Haldon, also from Cumberland. There is a discrepancy in her birth date between the 1841 and 1851 Census, so she could have been born in 1818 or 1821.

3. John and Ann’s eldest son was Henry Augustus Hutchinson (or Harry to his family) who was born in Gateshead in 1867 and was a Shipping Clerk in the 1891 Census. In 1890 he married Elizabeth Whitehead, whose parents were Charles Whitehead and Hannah Johnston. In the 1881 Census, Hannah is listed as an Innkeeper at 83 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. Elizabeth’s Grandmother, Jane Johnston, eventually came to live with her and Henry after Hannah’s death in 1886. Henry must have been a bit of a character as shown by the 1894 newspaper clipping below!

4. Henry’s younger siblings were: John, Cecelia, Thomasine, William, Wilhelmina & Christiana.

5. Henry and Elizabeth’s eldest child was John Henry Cecil Hutchinson, who was born in Cullercoats in 1891. He was a Draper’s Assistant (sometimes referred to as an Outfitter) in the 1911 Census. He married Maggie Abba of Cumberland in December 1918. We have wonderful records of him in WW1, including Service Records and his diary, which Jenny has transcribed from his pencilled notes. He entered the Royal Naval Division on the 6th October, 1914 and was an Able Seaman. He found himself fighting at the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in April 1915 and after being wounded and sick with dysentery, was shipped back to England. He returned to action on the Western Front. John’s younger siblings were: Charles, Lilian, Gladys & Cecelia.

6. John and Maggie’s children were Margaret Joan; Gladys Ilene & Marjorie Knight Hutchinson. Ilene worked in the War Cabinet Offices in London during WW2, as a Stenographer. She was present at the Yalta Conference in the Crimea in February 1945, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin carved up a future post-war Europe. Her memories of WW2 were recorded and are in the Playford Library and in the Imperial War Museum in London. Ilene married Robert Graham Adams and emigrated to Australia in 1952.

1.The Potger, de Bruin and Oorloff families are intertwined over 4 generations in Ceylon, starting with James William Potger (a Planter) who married Maria Catherine Oorloff in 1857.

2. Stanley Potger’s sister Irene (Martha’s great aunt) married James Stanley de Bruin (Arthur’s uncle) in 1914. He was the son of Florence Grace Rosalind Oorloff. Stanley’s other sister Dorothy (also Martha’s great aunt) married James Lancelot Denzil Oorloff in 1925.

3. Cora Potger married Arthur de Bruin in 1947, so there is a history of Oorloffs and Potgers becoming de Bruins with Potgers becoming Oorloffs and Oorloffs becoming Potgers!

4. We can trace the Oorloffs back to the town of Ribe, Denmark, to the 1500’s. Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark and was originally a Viking market place dating to the year 700. So Vilma is of Viking stock (maybe)!

5. The first Oorloff to come to Ceylon was Andreas Oorloff, who went from Denmark to Rotterdam in 1759 and caught a ship to Batavia and arrived in Colombo in August 1763. He married Anna Fernando (probably of Portuguese or mixed stock).

6. The Portuguese (1505-1656), followed by the Dutch (1656-1796) and then the British (1796-1948) were the major European powers involved with Ceylon over a period of some 400 years. The Portuguese didn’t take over the whole island until 1591 with the surrender of Jaffna.

7. The Potgers in Ceylon originated with Everhard (or Everard) Lodewyk Potger who was born in Minden in present-day Germany. It was then in the Brandenburg-Prussian Empire. He arrived in Ceylon in 1747 and married Elizabeth de Kretser in 1751. The de Kretser’s have strong lines in the Dutch East Indies Company. Lieutenant Louise de Kretser arrived in Ceylon from Holland in 1684. Christoffel Cornelis Luyck, who was married in Jaffna in 1696, is another ancestor with a strong lineage with the Dutch East Indies Co.

8. Johannes Conderlag, who was born in Germany and married in Colombo in 1782, was a corporal in the DEI Co (VOC in Dutch). He was involved as a signatory of an 1816 document sent to the Prince of Wales regarding the abolition of slavery in Ceylon.

9. So Vilma’s ancestors have strong German (Potger; Conderlag; Vogelaar), Dutch (de Kretser; probably Luyck), Danish (Oorloff) and Portuguese (de Lemos; de Oliveira; Perera; Fernando) with some French ancestry (Renaux), remembering these borders have changed over time. The Portuguese married into Singhalese families, and many Singhalese converted to Christianity (Catholic) and took on the names of their masters to make it easier to get work. So I don’t know if the names above are Portuguese, Singhalese or mixed.

10. The “epicentre” of activity in Colombo centred on the Dutch Reformed Church in Wolvendaal, which is near the port area. Look at the number of weddings there!  

11. Hector Vernon Potger arrived in Melbourne from Colombo aboard the ship Asturias on 06/03/1947. He was followed by Dickie and Kath Potger aboard the ship Pinjarra on 02/10/1947.

12. Stanley Dickens, Louise Beatrice & Pauline Potger arrived in Fremantle aboard the ship Stratheden on 20/12/1949, en route to Sydney with a destination address in Brisbane.

13. Some sites of interest:

• Home of Stanley and Louise Potger in 1943 was: 20 Lewalla Rd, Kandy.

• Isla Beatrice Potger was buried in 1943 at Plot No. 57915, Mahaiyawa Cemetery, Kandy.

• William de Lemos (Louise’s father) was the manager of 5 tea estates near Kandy-Ramboda: Pallagolla; Bluefield’s (still a thriving location today); Rangbodde (for 22 years); Dundonell and Rushbrook. •

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcDNT60KHyw

• Bevill St Elmo de Bruin (Arthur’s brother) was a Master at Royal College, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1942-1960.

• Many generations of Potger’s (and relatives, going back to 1751) were married in the Dutch (now called Christian) Reformed Church in Wolvendaal, Colombo. • Stanley and Louise Potger were married in St Paul’s Church, Kandy.

• James Emmanuel Potger (Stanley’s father) was buried in 1943 in Grave No. 3CE13 (Anglican Register) at Colombo General Cemetary.

• James Emmanuel Potger was married to Agnes Sebastian de Oliveira at St Phillip’s Catholic Church, Pettah, Colombo on 28/07/1886.

• St Paul's Church, Pettah, Colombo; Holy Trinity Church, Colombo; St. Michael's and All Angel's Church, Colombo are places where de Bruin’s were married.

• The Dutch Burgher Union building is located at 114 Reid Ave, Colombo.

1. The direct Verschoor line is traceable over 15 generations back to 1540, and these early generations were under Spanish rule in the 1500’s. The Verschoors hung around the same area of Rotterdam for a long time! There are excellent online records of them available from the Rotterdam Archives. Recycling of names between generations is very common. For example, Willempje Blok’s father was Huibrecht and her mother was Leentje, and these became names of two of Opa’s younger siblings. His other younger siblings Lijntje, Gerrit, Lodewijk, Johanna etc were all named after direct past relatives.

2. With so many generations and so many children, there are literally thousands of “indirect” Verschoor relatives. An interesting one (unconfirmed as he comes from a place 40km south of Rotterdam) could be Jan Willemszn Verschoor, who worked for the VOC in West Java and was a Director. In 1605, he commissioned Willem Jansz and the ship the Duyfken to survey the south coast of New Guinea. He ended up “discovering” Australia in March 1606 and mapped some 200 miles of the west coast of Cape York Peninsula (around Weipa), 164 years before Captain Cook!

3. There have been 5 generations of first-born male Verschoor’s named Leendert. Opa (Leendert) had an older brother named Leendert, born in 1899, but died aged 4 months. Recycling names of babies who died was a very common practice. Another example was Opa’s younger sister Leentje, who died in 1907 aged 11 months. The next female born in 1908 was also named Leentje. All up there were 11 siblings born over 12 years in Opa’s generation, 2 of whom died as babies.

4. The mother of Opa was Willempje Blok, who died in 1911, 12 days after the youngest child (Jan) was born. She was 38 years old. His father (also Leendert and a Butter Merchant) remarried in 1914. His second wife (Aagie Kleingeld) died in 1929 and Opa’s father died in 1947. I have found a Trade Directory for Rotterdam dating from 1900 which lists his business at 129 Zuidhoek (South Corner), which is in the Old Charlois district of Rotterdam, by the port area.

5. Wal’s maternal grandfather was Wouter Lagendijk and was probably named after him. He married Antonia Maria Lagendijk, who may have been a distant cousin. Going back several generations from him, Jan Simonsz Lagendijk married Aagje Willems Verschoor on 16/09/1797. This may have been a “shotgun” marriage, as she gave birth 3 ½ months later! His father, Simon Arysz Lagendijk married Geertje Willems van der Schoor on 02/12/1764. A bit of intertwining over the generations!

6. Maaike (Oma) Lagendijk was one of 8 siblings. The youngest was probably still born, however, as it was not named. So Oma was effectively the youngest of her siblings.

7. The oldest traceable Lagendijk is Saloman Jacobsz Lagendijk, who was born ca. 1602 and died in April 1661.

8. On the marriage certificate of Opa (Leendert) and Oma (Maaike) dated 19/09/1928, his occupation is stated as “Fabrieksarbeider”, which translates as “Factory Worker”. On Wal’s 1953 marriage certificate, Opa is listed as a “Manufacturer”.

9. Wal had a Diploma from the Juliana School in Rotterdam awarded 19/06/1948. He was awarded a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and Technical Design on 03/07/1951 from the Technical College in Rotterdam. This is awarded after a 5 year course, so he crammed it in.

10. There is a letter from A. Grootveld, the Managing Director of Nemag N/V (a heavy engineering firm), dated 10/09/1951 thanking Wal for his service as a junior and hoping he makes his fortune in Australia (and to do so in Holland’s service!). It appears he started there on 09/09/1948 (aged 17 ½ years). So he was working and studying at the same time.

11. Wal and Leo arrived in Fremantle, WA, via the ship Mariekerk, on 16/10/1951, so they would have left ~mid-September. A note from his parents regarding Wal’s emigration to Australia was notarized on 07/08/1951. Wal was 20 years old and so not an “adult”. Bill and Gre arrived by KLM aircraft to Sydney on 08/01/1958. Their wonderfully detailed immigration records are available online via the National Archives of Australia website. Their parents, Leendert (Opa) and Maaike (Oma) arrived by aircraft on 10/09/1958. After WWII, the family lived at 861 Dordtsestraatweg in Rotterdam, which now appears to be an apartment block.

12. A letter dated 27/11/1951 was sent by the Mayor of Rotterdam to Wal in Perth saying he was supposed to report to an Artillery Regiment in Holland and he was a naughty boy for nicking off! This would be for his 2 year National Service. He could apply for an exemption, though.

13. Wal worked as a Draftsman/Assistant Engineer for Cuming Smith & Mt Lyell Fertilisers in North Fremantle from 19/02/1952 to 08/07/1953 after doing some manual laboring jobs. He worked on mechanical handling equipment and steelwork for acid towers.

14. There is a letter from the Dutch war office dated 25/04/1952 giving Wal an exemption from military service PROVIDING he stays in Australia and providing there is no outbreak of war (don’t forget the Russians were sitting in East Germany at the time). New Guinea was then a territory of Australia.

15. Wal and Vilma were married on 19/09/1953 in the Presbyterian Church at Brunswick in Melbourne. He was living at 27 Stewart St in Brunswick and she was living in 10 New St in Brunswick. He worked as a Design Draftsman at ACI in Spotswood in 1953/54.

16. The 1954-1960 crazy period!

• Wal worked as an Engineering Draftsman for the C of A Dept of Works from 15/04/1954 to 12/12/1956 in Papua.

• Between October 1954 (building) and September 1955 (site drainage), Wal had plans drawn up to build 4x2 bedroom flats (plus native quarters) at Allotment 35, section 6, Boroko, Port Moresby. He had purchased the land for 60 pounds on 24/08/1954. His first real estate deal!

• On 10/12/1956, there are two forms issued by the PNG territory at Port Moresby permitting Wal & Vilma to re-enter Papua (method of entry unknown; where had they been and why?). With Vilma’s form there is a hand written note: “accompanied by infant 6 months”! If accurate, this would mean the infant would have been born ~June 1956 and conceived ~October 1955. Martha would have been conceived ~mid-July 1956, so one guess is that it was someone else’s baby (there is no name or sex recorded). However I think the most likely scenario is that the note is referring to a 6 month PREGNANT Vilma and the UNBORN Martha, and it is just a poorly worded record.

• On 10/12/1956 Wal paid off his CBA Hire purchase outstanding amount of 58 pounds for his Standard Saloon car. • Wal was granted paid and unpaid leave from the Dept of Works from 13/12/1956 until 26/11/1957.

• Wal is stated to be flying to Sydney on 13/12/1956 on aircraft VH EBL. What did Vilma do?

• There is an unusual letter from the Dutch Minister of Justice dated 14/01/1957 to Wal granting him permission to work for a “foreign State Service” (the Department of Works in New Guinea), but he had already been working there since 1954.

• On 08/01/1957, the Bank of New South Wales in Port Moresby wrote to Wal c/o Stanley Potger in Perth confirming an airmail transfer of 400 pounds to R. Mees & Zonen (or Loonen in another letter) of Rotterdam. Another letter was sent by them on 17/01/1957 responding to a letter from Wal in Perth dated 14/01/1957.

• Martha was born in Rotterdam on 18/04/1957. I’m guessing in this period the details to bring the whole family to Australia were finalised (Leo was still in Geelong). Wal, Vilma and Martha departed Holland on 28/09/1957 on the ship Johan van Oldenbarneveld and arrived in Melbourne on 31/10/1957 and the rest as above in 11.

• On 12/11/1957 the Bank of NSW in Port Moresby wrote to Wal at 5 Kestrel Court, Norlane, Geelong re. cancelling the transfer authority to Holland. This would have been Leo’s address no doubt.

• On 23/11/1957 the Dept of Works wrote to Wal at 31 Wilton Avenue, Somerton Park accepting his resignation. He was paid out a sum of 95 pounds on 29/11/1957.

• Wal worked as a Design Draftsman at Forwood, Down & Co. at Kilkenny from January 1958 to June 1960, when he resigned to concentrate full time at Static Engineering, which had been founded in 1958.

• Wal was notified on 30/06/1958 that his application for Australian citizenship was approved. He was naturalized on 26/09/1958 in a ceremony at the Brighton Municipal Offices in Adelaide (Certificate No. EM (2) 15942). They were living at 31 Wilton Avenue, Somerton Park at the time.

• On 28/07/1958 the Adelaide branch of the Bank of NSW wrote to Wal approving an overdraft limit of 1,500 pounds secured against the Contract of Sale for his Boroko property (a suburb of Port Moresby). This was for Static.

• On 20/05/1959 Wal received a friendly reminder from the Bank of NSW that Static was overdrawn by 1,675 pounds against a limit of 1,500 pounds. The first of many reminders!

• On 25/08/1960 Wal and Vilma signed a contract for the purchase of an existing house at 16 Broughton Rd, Elizabeth Vale, for 3,920 pounds. They had been living at 24 Argent St, Elizabeth Grove from 1959 having moved from Somerton Park.