Charles Gesner van der Voort had started his career in Rotterdam, at Holland-China Trading Company (HCHC). In 1938, he went to Shanghai for the firm. The Japanese interned him, and most other Dutch nationals, from 1943-45. In camp, he met his wife Nancy and they married after the war. After a leave in The Netherlands, they returned to the Orient, where Charles continued to work for HCHC in Hong Kong.
Twenty years before Charles started, in 1918, a photo album was made of the Hong Kong office and office staff.
The office also housed the Nederlandsch Indische Handelsbank. A 1908 photo by Arnold Wright (1858-1941) is part of Wikimedia Commons: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tcitp_d127_nederlandsch_indisch…" rel="noreferrer nofollow">commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tcitp_d127_nederlandsch_i...</a>
1256 N.V. Internationale Crediet- en Handelsvereniging Rotterdam/C.V. en N.V. Wm H. Muller & Co. (Internatio-Muller N.V.) 1402 Foto album van kantoren in China.
courtesy Stadsarchief Rotterdam, <a href="http://www.stadsarchief.rotterdam.nl/en" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.stadsarchief.rotterdam.nl/en</a>
Source: This image came from Flickr, see https://flickr.com/photo.gne?id=47725859252
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Holland-China Trading Company Hong Kong office, 16 Des Voeux Roa
The office also housed the Nederlandsch Indische Handelsbank. A 1908 photo by Arnold Wright (1858-1941) is part of Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tcitp_d127_nederlandsch_indische_handelsbank.jpg