Everything tagged "bw" | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Everything tagged "bw"

Wesselingh family archives: Xiamen (Amoy) bronze bowl, found 1938

Jan Wesselingh was an employee of Netherlands Harbour Works Co. from Amsterdam, working in Guangzhou (Canton) before WWII and in Hong Kong after WWII. I was brought in contact with two of his sons by Theodor A.R. Strauss, 1988-1993 secretary of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRCV, Dutch Reunists Association China), of which Jan Wesselingh was a member.

According to tradition, this bronze bowl was found during dredging works by Netherlands Harbour Works Co. in Xiamen in 1938. The bowl has a flat surface and lettering or symbols at the bottom (3 photos).

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1938

Hotz s'Jacob & Co.: 1900 trade mark registration- man, woman and stork

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.

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1900

Holland-China Trading Company (HCHC), Hong Kong, 1950, retirement Klimanek

Even though HCHC was taken over by Internatio in 1948, people kept referring to the company as Holland-China Trading Company. This group photo was taken for the occasion of senior manager Philip Harding Klimanek (front row, sixth from the left) leaving the company. Charles Gesner van der Voort can be found front row, first from the left, his wife Nancy third from the left. Phil Beekmeijer and his wife Ans are third row, first and second from the left.

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1950

Philip Harding Klimanek: 1950 retirement Holland-China Trading Company, Hong Kong

Philip Harding Klimanek (1883-1965) was born in the Czech Republic, at the time his place of birth was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In ca. 1905 he started to work for Holland-China Trading Company, in Hong Kong.

This photo shows his retirement party. Charles Gesner van der Voort's wife Nancy can be seen first row, third from the right. Philip Harding Klimanek is standing in front, on the right.

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1950

Philip Harding Klimanek: 1948 portrait

Philip Harding Klimanek (1883-1965) was born in the Czech Republic, at the time his place of birth was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In ca. 1905 he started to work for Holland-China Trading Company, in Hong Kong.

In 1939, when Charles Gesner van der Voort arrived in Shanghai to work for the company, he was Charles' superior. In a letter home he wrote: "Played chess with Klimanek in the French Club" [translation Pieter Lommerse, the French Club was Le Cercle Sportif Français, a fashionable place to be in the 1930s and it still exists today].

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1948

Wesselingh family archive: dredger "Portugal" in Hong Kong, Causeway Bay Reclamation, 1953

Jan Wesselingh was an employee of Netherlands Harbour Works Co. from Amsterdam, working in Guangzhou (Canton) before WWII and in Hong Kong after WWII. I was brought in contact with two of his sons by Theodor A.R. Strauss, 1988-1993 secretary of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRCV, Dutch Reunists Association China), of which Jan Wesselingh was a member.

Can you recognise the background? There is a typical pagoda on the left.

More narrative will follow.

Courtesy Wesselingh family archives

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1953

Wesselingh family archives: figurines showing Eight immortal fairies (Pat Sin Leng), ca 1937

Jan Wesselingh was an employee of Netherlands Harbour Works Co. from Amsterdam, working in Guangzhou (Canton) before WWII and in Hong Kong after WWII. I was brought in contact with two of his sons by Theodor A.R. Strauss, 1988-1993 secretary of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRCV, Dutch Reunists Association China), of which Jan Wesselingh was a member.

Can you please help to find out more about the meaning of the figurines?

More narrative will follow.

Courtesy Wesselingh family archives

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1937

Wesselingh family archives: Huangpu District, Guangzhou, 1938

Jan Wesselingh was an employee of Netherlands Harbour Works Co. from Amsterdam, working in Guangzhou (Canton) before WWII and in Hong Kong after WWII. I was brought in contact with two of his sons by Theodor A.R. Strauss, 1988-1993 secretary of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRCV, Dutch Reunists Association China), of which Jan Wesselingh was a member.

More narrative will follow.

Courtesy Wesselingh family archives

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1938

Wesselingh family archives: wedding photo Jan and Mieke Wesselingh, The Netherlands, 1936

After contacting Theodor A.R. Strauss, 1988-1993 secretary of Nederlandse Reünisten Vereniging China (NRCV, Dutch Reunists Association China) about a detail I found about works performed for Hong Kong Kai Tak airport in 1927 by Netherlands Harbour Works Co., he brought me in contact with two sons of an engineer who worked for the company in the 1930s to 1960s. The eldest son of Jan and Mieke Wesselingh, Hans (J.A.) Wesselingh, had written a document about the story of their parents in China and the younger son Rob Wesselingh sent me additional information via e-mail.

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1936

Netherlands Harbour Works Co.: Blockyard at Hong Kong, ca. 1925

Dear reader,

From the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam archives, here is a photo from a brochure by Netherlands Harbour Works Co. showing the construction of a quaywall at Hong Kong, ca. 1925.

I would be happy to receive comments on this photo: location, etc.

Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos): 
1925

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