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]. <Read more ...>
Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos):
The report of Colonial Surgeon Dr Ayres in 1875 referred in strong terms to the insanitary state of the town areas, including the keeping of pigs indiscriminately in dwelling houses. This report was apparently suppressed until 1881 when it was published as a reprint of parliamentary papers. Thereupon Mr Chadwick was appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to come out and report on the sanitary state of Hongkong. These suggestions were published in 1883. <Read more ...>
