Along Orchard Road in Singapore, there's a place called Wheelock Place, where I sometimes browse the Marks & Spencer store. It wasn't until I visited the Arc'teryx Museum in Shanghai that I realized the adjacent Wheelock Square is actually named Wheelock Square. After some research, I discovered that both are actually backed by Wheelock Properties Limited in Hong Kong. It was once a listed company, but was later acquired and privatized by Y.K. Pao. However, Wheelock's history can be traced back to 1857 (Qing Dynasty) in Shanghai. That year, Canadian captain Thomas Reed Wheelock founded Shanghai Tug and Lighter Limited; while British Jew G.E. Marden founded Marden and Company in 1925. In 1932, the two companies merged to form Wheelock and Marden Company Limited. The new company also operated other shipping businesses and shifted its operational focus to Hong Kong after World War II. From maritime shipping to land assets, this was a microcosm of the transformation of many British-owned trading companies during that era.