{"id":1490,"date":"2020-02-21T15:27:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T04:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1490"},"modified":"2020-03-31T12:40:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T02:10:59","slug":"the-rutte-family-stirling-parrot-farm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1490","title":{"rendered":"The Rutte Family & Stirling Parrot Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Text and Images: Elisabeth Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The parrot farm sign in Milan Terrace <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Adriaan\nRutte owned a large pheasant farm in The Netherlands before he and his wife\nJohanna brought their family of nine to Australia in 1958 to begin a new life\nin the Adelaide Hills. He had a great love of birds and eventually established\nnew aviaries in Stirling with his 18-year-old son Gerry. The sign bearing the\nname STIRLING PARROT FARM became a familiar landmark in Milan Terrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The family on board the migrant ship the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Rutte\nfamily spent the first seven months of their new life at the Woodside Migrant\nCamp after stepping off the Overland Express from Melbourne at the Balhannah Railway\nStation. Jo was pregnant with her ninth child and, unlike her family, had made\nthe train journey in a sleeper. She had not been the only migrant to be\nconfused by the sign at the station and had only just managed to hastily alight\nbefore the train was once again on its way, Jo would later recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rutte\nfamily occupied three rooms at the camp. A serious outbreak of dysentery was\nthe cause of great concern and assistant migrant chaplain Father Frank Manak of\nStirling eventually helped them find the house in Milan Terrace which would\nbecome their permanent home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Adriaan and Johanna on the occasion of their 25th<\/sup> wedding anniversary <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Adriaan and Jo and their children worked industriously from the start. They were out in the fields picking blackberries and Hills daisies and ran a roadside stall. They sold recycled rags and copper wiring and conducted a service station at Eagle on the Hill, where they also sold potatoes as a sideline. \u00a0After completing their schooling the children obtained their own jobs, were married and settled in various parts of South Australia. The aviaries in Milan Terrace would keep Adriaan occupied well into his retirement and were eventually taken over for some years by son Gerry. Locals still recall the large plot of verdant green silver beet constantly maintained by the family to keep the birds fed. \u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their later years Adriaan and Johanna set up home nearby in Bilney Road. But even then, whilst no longer enjoying good health, they remained industrious and found great satisfaction in recycling the yarn from woollen pullovers for Jo to get busy with her crochet hook to create colourful wraps, about 200 over time, for the charity Wrap with Love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adriaan died\nin 1999, aged 83. Jo died in 2011, aged 93. Their many descendants now stretch\nover four generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One would\nhave to agree it was a migrant life well lived. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Do you have memories of the Rutte Family or the Stirling Parrot Farm? Contact us at mldhsgateways@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au<\/a> or drop into the History Centre at the Coventry Library, 63 Mount Barker Road, Stirling.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text and Images: Elisabeth Anderson Adriaan Rutte owned a large pheasant farm in The Netherlands before he and his wife Johanna brought their family of nine to Australia in 1958 to begin a new life in the Adelaide Hills. He had a great love of birds and eventually established new aviaries in Stirling with his … Continue reading “The Rutte Family & Stirling Parrot Farm”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":793,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaNLq6-o2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1605,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1605","url_meta":{"origin":1490,"position":0},"title":"Our Migrant Heritage","date":"March 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Return to Gateways Topics In this section we explore the impact of those people who have come from other countries to make the Hills their home and we tell their stories from past and present. Italian Migrants in the Adelaide Hills Fr Frank Manak Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski My 1951 Sea\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2360,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2360","url_meta":{"origin":1490,"position":1},"title":"The Good Neighbour Council","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text and Images: Elisabeth Anderson The memorial to Mary Williams MBE, Milan Terrace, Stirling In a fenced enclosure opposite the Stirling Hospital in Milan Terrace stands a rounded rock bearing a simple plaque, dated 1969, to commemorate Mary Williams MBE and her untiring work and help for overseas newcomers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3315,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=3315","url_meta":{"origin":1490,"position":2},"title":"Adelaide “Hills”","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John McGregor Images: SATC, MLDHS \u00a0 I guess that most (or many ) people know where The Eagle on the Hill is,\u00a0 but there are other\u00a0 \u201cHills\u201d in the Crafers\/Stirling area that have often been referred to by names which have or had some local significance (as did Germantown\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/adelaide-hills-landscape.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2775,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2775","url_meta":{"origin":1490,"position":3},"title":"New Acquisitions September 2021","date":"October 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Jackie MussaredImages: Jackie Mussared A selection of new items added to our archive during September 2021 Stirling East Swimming Pool 3 photos of the \u201cold\u201d Stirling East Primary School Pool taken in about 1959. 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