Worthingtons are well-researched. This is the third reference work to be published in their history. It opens in 1572 in Failsworth, near Manchester, and traces that line through 12 generations. Other lines and cadet branches covered include the Worthingtons of Waterhouses, Woodhouses, Rochdale, Old Trafford, Manchester and Audenshaw, all in Lancashire and Werneth in Cheshire. It also includes the Worthingtons of Stourport in Worcestershire, and Leek in Staffordshire. One member of the family settled in Natal in the early days of the colony-several lines are still in South Africa of which three generations are traced. Supported by no fewer than 12 full-page pedigrees, the book provides some 80 illustrations and 170 individual biographies, cross referenced and indexed; with brief accounts of the families connected by marriage and many references given for further study or research. And research for this book has continued for more than a hundred years; started by Percy W L Adams, the baton was taken by the present author at half-time.

Adding welcome flesh to the bare bones of the pedigrees, the author accounts for the occupations and position in society of successive generations-mainly farming in the early years, then seven consecutive generations operating as carriers, including a national network on the canals, until the railways came. But, by this time, various other professional and business interests had added to the family fortunes, with four generations owning a textile mill from the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, and much involvement in the military and sport. As well as their strengths, the author does not cover up weaknesses-and, from time to time humour provides light relief!.