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. This photo shows the manager of the the Guangzhou office, Canton at the time, P. (Petrus, probably Peter in daily life) Stuyfbergen.
Petrus Stuyfbergen (Alkmaar, 17 September 1884 - Amsterdam 13 August 1946), was on the Hong Kong juror's list of 1910, on the gwulo.com website; he was assistant in the Hong Kong office at the time. <a href="https://old.gwulo.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://gwulo.com/jurors-list-1910">https://gwulo.com/jurors-list-1910" rel="noreferrer nofollow">gwulo.com/jurors-list-1910</a>
Thanks to Gwulo.com member David: "A search for Stuyfbergen at HKGRO shows he was back in Hong Kong in the 1930s, as he's shown in the Jurors Lists for 1935 & 1936 as the Manager of Holland China Trading Co., Ld." <a href="https://old.gwulo.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/index.jsp">http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/index.jsp" rel="noreferrer nofollow">sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkgro/index.jsp</a>
Thanks to Gwulo.com member eurasian_david, Petrus Stuyfbergen's dates of birth and death were found, as well as some other details on his migration to China.
<a href="https://old.gwulo.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://gwulo.com/node/46326">https://gwulo.com/node/46326" rel="noreferrer nofollow">gwulo.com/node/46326</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="https://old.gwulo.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"http://www.stadsarchief.rotterdam.nl/en">http://www.stadsarchief.rotterdam.nl/en" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.stadsarchief.rotterdam.nl/en</a> (photo)
