Ercilla Gertrude Wickham was born to Charles and Lydia Wickham on May 15, 1917 in Cottage, St. George, and moved to Bridge Cot in the same parish as a baby where she still resides today. Ercilla’s father, Charles, was a Pastor in the Wesleyan Holiness Church at Flat Rock, St. George. As a result of this, Ercilla was raised in a Christian home and continued on that path even to today. Ercilla loved music and wanted to learn to play the piano, however, her father thought it better for her to learn to sew and that she did and became an excellent seamstress, outfitting brides in her day and then going on to teach many persons. She also loved gardening and livestock. Ercilla was married to Ivan Sealy of Cherry Grove, St. John, and together they had three children (two girls and one boy). One of the children predeceased her and her husband. Ercilla is the only living sibling of the late Irvine Mortimer Wickham, who was the first black Superintendent of the Wesleyan Holiness Church in Barbados.
Ercilla Sealy
