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Harry Wickham

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Harry Wickham
Personal information
Born(1882-09-10)10 September 1882
Solomon Islands
Died15 April 1962(1962-04-15) (aged 79)
Solomon Islands
EducationNewington College
Sport
SportSwimming

Harry Wickham (10 September 1882 – 14 October 1962)[1] was a Solomon Islander swimmer who with his half-brother Alick Wickham is acknowledged as being an early exponent of the crawl swimming stroke in Australia before its introduction to competitive swimming.[2]

Biography

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Wickham was born on the island of Hobopeka in the New Georgia region of the Solomon Islands. He was the son of Frank Wickham, an English plantation owner, and Ameriga a Melanesian woman from Buin, Papua New Guinea. He was jointly raised by his parents and the local ceremonial and war leader Chief Hingava.[3] His only known formal European style education was at Newington College in Sydney from 1899 until 1900.[4] A few years later Wickham was joined in Sydney by his younger half-brother Alick Wickham who gained attention with his swimming stroke in an under-10s race at Bronte Beach. Following Wickham’s return to the Solomons, he managed a copra plantation at Hobopeka in the Roviana Lagoon, and worked as an accountant for Burns Philp. He served as a lieutenant during the Japanese occupation of The Solomons during World War II.[5] He married six times and fathered several children. He died in the Solomons and is buried there.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Wickham, Harry (1882 - 1962) Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. ^ Australian Museum Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ^ The Roviana Chief Hingava Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  4. ^ Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp 214
  5. ^ ANU Solomon Islanders in World War II Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  6. ^ "They gave the world a new way of swimming", Pacific Islands Monthly, Pacific Publications, 1962