Cornelis Hermannus Rijnvis was born on January 27, 1899 in Hoogeveen. His father Dirk Johannes Rijnvis came from Hoogezand and did’nt want to stay in Hoogezand after the death of his first wife. He left for Hoogeveen and married Annichje Stoter on 4 December 1897 in Hoogeveen.
- Dirk Johannes, born on May 7, 1923 in Hoogeveen and died on November 4, 1996 in Hoogeveen
- Jacob Rijnvis, born on March 12, 1925 in Hoogeveen and died on January 5, 2010 in Busselton Australia
- Cornelis Hermannus, born on 1928 in Hoogeveen and died on January 4, 2018 in Dedemsvaart
- Aaltje Rijnvis, born on November 19, 1928 in Hoogeveen and died on December 11, 1936 in Hoogeveen
- Annichje Rijnvis, born on November 1, 1931 in Hoogeveen and died on September 7, 2014 in Albany Australia
- Marchien Rijnvis, born on May 12, 1934 in Hoogeveen
- Aaltje Rijnvis, born on April 23, 1938 in Hoogeveen and died on January 22, 2015 in Albany Australia
In 1922 he started a delivery service from Hoogeveen to Groningen from Kerkstraat 67 in Hoogeveen with an old army car from the first world war. He drove at a speed of approximately 25 km and was therefore on the road for 4 hours from Hoogeveen to Groningen and returned the same day. Every Tuesday and Friday he left in the morning between 5 and 6 with a Hans Lloyd and returned home between 9 and 10 in the evening.
In 1923 he bought a new T-Ford (registration number D-2812) and his brother-in-law Roelof Post joined him in the company. Roelof Post was actually a skipper and therefore it was decided to buy a motor ship and the heavy goods went per turn ship. The turn ship was able to make a trip once a week, but it took too long for the goods to reach the customers.
A few years later he bought a T-Ford that did not drive faster but was safer. Yet this T-Ford was too light to carry the heavy loads of the time. There was one day of driving and the next day repairing what had gone wrong.
Two new trucks were purchased in 1928; an A-Ford and a Chevrolet. The Chevrolet truck was extended so that a double load could load compared to the T-Ford. The Chevrolet had a 4-cylinder engine and a large closed body for that time.
Cornelis bought the miller’s house from the mill, in the van Echtenstraat which was then no longer used. It was an old farm, the stables of which he had demolished to have a garage built for 2 trucks.
Cornelis and Aaltje had to borrow money to make investments for the delivery service. Cornelis received help repairing the truck from his father-in-law Post.
Unemployment was high in the Netherlands and especially in Drenthe and Groningen. Father Johannes Dirk’s shipyard was at a standstill and the Hermannus Cornelis’ brother worked at the shipyard but bought a store for household items in Meppel.
Cornelis and Aaltje were members of the Reformed Church but did not attend church often because of the extra care for their disabled daughter Aaltje and work for truck service. The grandparents Post wanted the children to be baptized, but the elders of the church felt that it was not possible because they did not attend the church enough. The children were eventually baptized in the Reformed Church of Hollandscheveld.
In 1931 the Salvation Army arrived in Hoogeveen with a motorboat and organized meetings in a tent in the van Echtenstraat.
Cornelis and Aaltje became one of the first in Hoogeveen to become a salvation soldier with the Salvation Army.
In 1934 things went better in Europe and the Chevrolet and A-Ford were exchanged at garage Huizing for two six-cylinder Bedfords with hydraulic brakes.
On December 11, 1936, daughter Aaltje dies as a result of a fall with her high chair, leaving her with her head against her sofa bed in the living room.
She was brought from a building of the Salvation Army on a portable to the cemetery and buried.
In 1938, brother-in-law Roelof Post stopped his turn ship service because the trucks could take five tonnes per trip and were at their destination the next day. In the meantime there were 2 trucks and a truck drove daily to the Vischmarkt in Groningen.
In 1939 World War II started and 2 trucks were claimed by the Dutch government because of the mobilization of the Dutch army. The truck purchased in 1939 was not yet delivered and in 1940 Cornelis bought another truck so that he again had 2 trucks. had for the delivery service.
In May 1940, the Netherlands was attacked by Germany and soon it was no longer possible to get gasoline and the trucks were claimed by the Germans.
After the death of his father Dirk Johannes Rijnvis in 1940, Cornelis Hermannus Rijnvis took over the shipyard on Alteveerstraat (Slood) and the family moved to Alteveerstraat 49.
Only after the war did the skippers extend their ships from approximately 23 meters to 30 meters.
In 1945, Cornelis bought two army cars; a CMG and a Chevrolet. With both army cars, another truck service was launched between Hoogeveen and Groningen.
In 1948 the transport company was sold to Klaas Hartman and Sons. With the proceeds from the transportcompany, a machinefactory was started at the shipyard on the Alteveerstraat where, among other things, production tools were made for Hart Nibbrig & Greeve for the production of mopedengines.
In 1952, Cornelis and Aaltje emigrated with their 3 daughters Ann, Alice en Mary to Australia.
Their eldest son Jack had already left for Australia in 1950. He had bought a piece of land in Albany, Western Australia, and had permission to build a workshop.
In Australia, Cornelis and his son Jacob started a steel construction company named Melville Engineering Company in Albany.
In order to attract customers, they sent a letter to companies in which a free inspection of machines in use for making steel structures and thereby to be able to do maintenance.
From 1965 the cooperation between Jacob and Cornelis Hermannus stopped and Jacob continued alone with Melville Engineering Company.
As a hobby, Cornelis started making wooden and copper miniatures that he sold for the Christian churches in Russia and Romania, among others.
