Biographical entry: Wickham, Ashley (1947 - )

Born
1947

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Ashley Wickham was born in Munda on New Georgia in 1947 and attended Kokeqolo junior primary school, and St. John's School in Honiara. He then went to St John's Woodlawn Catholic secondary school in New South Wales, Australia and returned to the Solomons with a New South Wales Intermediate Certificate. Ashley was employed by the British Solomons Trading Company as a shop assistant for a short time, after which he joined the Honiara Ports Authority for one year, and then the public service in 1967 as an Air Radio Operator with the Posts and Telecommunications Department. He was sponsored to attend a six-month aeronautical course in Brisbane for six months. In 1969, he transferred to the Information Department and in 1972 attended a four-month attachment course to city and country newspapers in Australia. Ashley became the first Solomon Islander Information Officer in 1972. In June 1972, he escorted Governing Council (q.v.) members of a Constitutional Select Committee on a tour of the central Pacific, visiting Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. He was a member of the Honiara Consumers Association Committee, the Chairman of the Honiara Consumers Co-operative Society, and in 1973 was President of the Civil Servants' Association. He was also a member of the Honiara Jaycees and the Solomon Islands National Rugby Union Committee. In 1973, Ashley Wickham was elected as the member for Honiara in the Governing Council. He lost in the 1976 elections for the Legislative Assembly (q.v.). A Catholic by upbringing, he is married to a Malaitan. (NS 6 July 1973; 'Constitutional Talks in United Kingdom on British Solomon Islands, Pacific Dependent Territories', FCO 32/1260 HPS 1/18, pt. A, British National Archives.)

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  • British Solomon Islands Protectorate (ed.), British Solomon Islands Protectorate News Sheet (NS), 1955-1975. Details