| Harry Wickham | |
| Headercolor: | lightblue |
| Sport: | Swimming |
| Event Type: | Freestyle |
| Education: | Newington College |
| Birth Date: | 10 September 1882 |
| Birth Place: | Solomon Islands |
| Death Place: | Solomon Islands |
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]
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.