Worthington family history has been well researched, and this new addition, the third reference work published on the subject, reveals yet more about this fascinating family. It opens in 1572, tracing 12 generations of the title Worthington line in Failsworth, near Manchester. The author also follows many other Lancashire lines and cadet branches, including those of Waterhouses, Woodhouses, Rochdale, Old Trafford, Manchester, Audenshaw and Werneth. The Worthingtons of Stourport in Worcestershire, and of Leek in Staffordshire, are also included. There are even several lines in South Africa, descended from a Worthington who settled in Natal in the early days of the colony, of which five generations are traced. The author gives 170 biographies of family members, and also accounts for the general position in society and typical occupations of successive generations of Worthingtons. He follows the many generations of farmers, seven generations of carriers (whose business was conducted on the national canal network before the railway), and four generations of textile mill owners during the Industrial Revolution. The compelling narrative is supported by 12 beautifully drawn full-page pedigrees and some 80 illustrations. Brief accounts of the families connected by marriage, and references for further research, are also provided. This definitive book has been in the making for over a century. Percy W.L. Adams began the research and the College of Arms made a grant of arms in 1975. The present author, who continued the investigation, has also made this family history a compelling story, revealing not only family strengths (such as the military and sport), but also personal weaknesses, all of which are told in a highly readable, and sometimes humorous, narrative.