The five Charles Murray carvings in the photograph accompanying this article are part of a collection donated to the Sechelt Community Archives by his wife, the late Alice Murray. The Murrays were well-known local watercolour artists who exhibited regularly on the Coast. They travelled extensively, mainly in B.C. but also along the west coast of the States and Mexico.
Among the carvings, we recognize the figures of Bergie Solberg and Charlie Brookman, but who are the others?
Bergie, “The Cougar Lady,” spent most of her life outdoors; she worked in the camps of local logging companies, hunted bears and cougars and ran a trap line. The Solbergs left Norway and came to Canada in 1926 when Bergie was three and her sister Minnie was four. They came to the Sunshine Coast the next year where father Herman worked as a logger, fisherman and boat builder. A small four-room cabin was the family home, which was floated twice before being beached at Carlson Point in Sechelt Inlet. After the deaths of her mother and father, Bergie continued to live on the west side of the Inlet with her dog and several miniature goats for company. She travelled to Sechelt by boat, her own if she had gas and the motor would start, or on a passing boat, having demanded a lift from its owner.
Minnie married and moved to Jervis Inlet but on the death of her husband returned
to live with Bergie until her death in 2001. Bergie died the next year and Sechelt lost one of its colourful characters.
Another colourful character carved by Charles Murray was Charlie Brookman. He and his wife retired to Davis Bay from Burnaby in 1946. A keen fisherman, he spent many hours fishing off the Davis Bay pier where in 1968 he started a very popular
“fishing derby” for children. The child catching the largest fish was awarded the Charlie Brookman trophy. He was an active member of the Sechelt Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and a member of the Masonic Lodge. The Sechelt and District Chamber of Commerce named him Good Citizen for 1975-76. He had an adventurous working life after emigrating to Canada in 1903 at age 19: he farmed in Ontario, prospected for gold in the Yukon, where his neighbour was Robert Service, sailed the world on merchant ships when they were powered by sail, and served and was wounded in WWI with the Canadian army. He returned to Canada in 1918 with his bride to live and work in Burnaby and spend summer holidays in Davis Bay, retiring there after WWII.
Who are the other three people Charles carved? Who is the dapper professional man in the suit, the logger and the long-haired man in the jacket and shorts? Did they have such interesting and exciting lives as Bergie and Charlie? We think they are local residents, so if any reader recognizes them please contact the Sechelt Community Archives in the Sechelt Public Library, email [email protected] (attention Ann Watson) or phone 604-885-3260.
