Museum exhibition hails Claribel -- Louth's very own Taylor Swift

Now Claribel – real name Charlotte Alington Bernard, nee Pye (1830-1869) – is enjoying fresh recognition thanks to a series of events in her home town.

In March, a public concert and talk, given by singer and singing teacher Kate Witney and distinguished musicologist Bill Everett, was well received at Louth Methodist Church.

And since last month, a mini-exhibition of her life and work has attracted lots of fascinated visitors to Louth Museum, all keen to find out more about one of the town’s most famous daughters.

With the help of funding from the Arts Council, the Broadbank museum acquired items relating to Claribel which are on display for the rest of this year’s season.

They include a beautifully restored, large, framed oil painting of her as a toddler, holding up one of her blue shoes in her right hand.

The exhibition also features a substantial leather-bound journal or commonplace book, which was written by Claribel and contains music, notation, poems, watercolours and personal observations of her travels.

The book has been professionally digitised and is being shown page by page in a purpose-built cabinet at the museum.

Claribel composed, and sold, vast amounts of sheet music around the world, with her songs reaching the USA and Australia and being performed by top singers.

Counting Queen Victoria among her fans, she amassed a fortune and became a household name as one of the leading songwriters of the era.

However, her life ended under a cloud. In 1868, her father, solicitor Henry Alington Pye, was accused of stealing money that had been left in his care and trust. So Claribel and her husband fled with him to Belgium to try and avoid prosecution and to hide from his creditors.

Family shame then turned to tragedy because, a year later, when she returned to England for a holiday, she contracted typhoid and died in Dover at the age of 38.

However, enthusiasts such as Witney, who herself was born in Louth, are keen to remember the good days and raise awareness of Claribel’s talents.

She told the BBC: “It’s very exciting to have the commonplace book back in Louth.

"It is a combination of a sketchbook and a notebook in which Claribel penned her thoughts and impressions and recorded her experiences. The little watercolours in it are delightful.”

Another boost to Claribel’s legacy comes in the form of an album that has been produced by Witney and pianist Jane O’Farrell.

The album contains some of the Victorian star’s songs, all brought up to date by modern technology.

Witney added: “Claribel’s songs are very much of their period. One or two are, perhaps, a bit senitmental for modern tastes, but they are great fun to sing. She could certainly write a good tune.”

Claribel wrote more than 100 songs in total, as well as two volumes of verse, plus poetry, ballads and hymns. After marrying solicitor Charles Cary Bernard in 1854, the couple lived at The Firs on Westgate in Louth and later moved to the village of Kirmington in north Lincolnshire when her husband was appointed rector of Brocklesby with Kirmington.

Among Claribel’s other claims to fame is that she laid the foundation stone of Louth railway station in 1847, and a stained glass window in her memory stands in St James’s Church in Louth, where she gave an acclaimed concert in 1862.