ONE OF BOURNE'S MOST famous sons, Charles Worth, is to feature in a new musical due to be staged in the United States in the spring. The subject of the production is one of his models, Cora Pearl, the Parisian courtesan who became the talk of the town. 

The story of Charles Frederick Worth is well known, one of five children of solicitor William Worth and his wife, Mary Ann, who left home as a boy during the early 19th century to seek his fortune and after working in London for a spell, sailed for France and later established his fashion house in Paris. 

His salon became an important call for wealthy American women doing the grand tour and even attracted Princess Metternich, wife of the Austrian Ambassador to Paris, who wore one of his gowns at a court ball in the Tuileries. When the Empress Eugénie noticed the dress, she became a customer and Worth's reputation was established and by 1865 he was dressing the nobility and the royalty of Russia, Austria, Italy and Spain. 

It was during this time that Worth met Emma, daughter of Frederick Crouch, an English musician who emigrated to the New World and later served as a trumpeter with the Confederate Army during the American Civil War before settling down as a singing teacher in Baltimore where he also worked in a furniture factory. Crouch died in 1896 at the age of 88 having been married four times and fathered 17 children, although various accounts have claimed that the total was nearer 27. A talented musician, he is best remembered for writing the Irish ballad Kathleen Mavourneen which became a particular favourite during the  conflict when it was sung around camp fires. 

Emma preferred to use the name of Cora Pearl and she soon became one of Worth's greatest advertisements, wearing the underwear that he designed. Numerous photographs exist of her dressed in the fullest, widest and most fussy of his crinolines imaginable and when he launched the bustle, his classic innovation that was to dominate ladies fashion into the next century, Cora was the obvious choice as the first to wear it at important functions and to show it off to the wealthy clientele that frequented his salon.  

Cora had a magnificent figure and the capacity to charm wealthy and titled men to the extent that they fell at her feet and spent vast sums on her that she squandered shamelessly. But it was not to last. The years were not kind to her and after a shooting incident involving a rejected lover, she was deported to England, looking old, painted, wrinkled and worn out. She returned to France using clumsily forged documents but the glamorous life she knew had gone forever and she died of cancer while living in distressed circumstances in Paris in 1886 at the age of 51 and is buried in the Batignolles cemetery.  

The fact that she and Worth were friends is not surprising because both came from more austere circumstances in England and made their mark in Parisian high society. He dressed her in the height of fashion and she gave his creations tremendous publicity by her outrageous behaviour. Cora is also probably the only person in the world to have a biography named after her toilet, The Lady with the Swan's Down Seat. She was also the originator of the popular party piece of a naked lady bursting out of a cake and an Australian brothel even had a suite named after her.

Her colourful career is to be celebrated in words and music by Jill Craddock, a teacher in the arts, of Orlando, Florida, who has been studying Cora's life for some years. "She was a really fascinating woman and trend setter", she said, "and the musical will reflect her character and spirit." 

Charles Worth is featured prominently. "He is referred to throughout", she said, "and when Cora arrives in Paris she says that the Worth gowns are her particular favourites. Other references to him include her wardrobe budget, her philosophy of fashion, word play with his surname and the jealousy of other women over her clothes which he made." 

She added: "Right now, the musical is limited in scope due to budget so I have not written a character for Charles Worth although he would make a perfect addition to the show. I have been studying the gowns and a family member has volunteered to sew. It is a very exciting process to bring this time period to life on the stage." 

I have sent Jill a story about Charles Worth from my own researches and she has adapted the script to include it in the production that has now been entered in the 21st Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival in May 2012 and will run for seven performances. "Because of our limited budget, resources are being directed mainly towards costumes and jewellery", said Jill. "Nevertheless, we are all very excited about the production which has already been well received by the music and theatre community. Cora, the characters in her life and the time period itself, all make for a very good story and we feel confident for the future of the show and that it will be seen on as many stages as possible." 

The life of Charles Worth is marked in Bourne with a blue plaque outside Wake House in North Street where he was born on13th October 1825 and a gallery at the Heritage Centre in South Street which was opened in April 2006 and now contains photographs and memorabilia relating to his life together with replica dresses made by local seamstresses.  

Worth died on 10th March 1895 at the age of 69, by which time he had become so well-known that 2,000 mourners attended his funeral, including the mayor and civic officials from Paris, representatives of the French Assembly and the President of the Republic himself. He was buried at Suresnes and his wife, Marie, was placed in the same grave three years later but his name remains as a byword in world fashion which he did so much to modernise and where his influence is still evident.