Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/62

 famous doctour and precher’ (Chronicle, p. 685). His will, dated 12 Feb. 1498−9, was proved at Lambeth on 8 Nov. 1499, and at York on 27 March 1500, and is printed in ‘Testamenta Eboracensia,’ iv. 155−6; by it he left money for an obit in St. Paul's.

 WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825−1895), dressmaker, was the son of William Worth, a solicitor at Bourne, Lincolnshire, who lost his property in speculations. Born in 1825, he was at first intended for a printer, but after a few months went to London to be apprenticed to Messrs. Swan & Edgar, linendrapers. He was chiefly employed in bookkeeping, but showed an interest in French fabrics and models. In 1846, on the expiration of his indentures, he went to Paris, and for twelve years was in the service of Gagelin, silkmercer. A lady's train designed by him figured in the exhibition of 1855. He next, in partnership with a Swede named Bobergh, started in business as a lady's tailor. Princess Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador, was one of his earliest customers, and the Comtesse de Pourtalès introduced him to the Empress Eugénie, to whom he submitted every novelty. Thenceforth all wealthy Paris flocked to his rooms in the Rue de la Paix, and acknowledged him as the dictator of fashions. After the war of 1870 Bobergh retired, and Worth, with the assistance of his two sons, continued a business which yielded 50,000l. a year profit, going down daily, to the end of his life, to the establishment from his house in the Rue de Berri or the villa erected by him at Suresnes. He was liberal to his staff and to French charities, but had joined the French reformed church and did not associate with the English colony. He died on 10 March 1895, and was buried at Suresnes. His widow died on 8 Aug. 1898.

 WORTH, RICHARD NICHOLLS (1837−1896), miscellaneous writer and geologist, was the eldest son of Richard Worth, a builder of Devonport, by his wife Eliza, daughter of Richard Nicholls of the same place. He was born on 19 July 1837, and apprenticed in 1851 at the Devonport and Plymouth ‘Telegraph,’ becoming a member of the staff in 1858. In 1863 he joined the ‘Western Morning News,’ remaining with it till 1865. In 1866 and the following year he lived at Newcastle-on-Tyne as editor of the ‘Northern Daily Express,’ but, finding the climate too trying, rejoined the staff of the ‘Western Morning News’ in 1867. In 1877 he became associated with Messrs. Brendon & Son, printers and publishers, of Plymouth, receiving a testimonial of plate by public subscription in Devon and Cornwall for his services as a journalist. In this business he remained till his death, though he continued to contribute occasionally, not only to the local press but also to ‘Nature,’ the ‘Academy,’ and other periodicals.

Worth was a diligent student, and devoted all his spare time to investigating the history and geology of the west of England. Patient and exact, dreading hasty theorising, he was one of that indefatigable band of workers who have done so much for the history, archaeology, and geology of Devon and Cornwall. Altogether Worth published about 140 papers between 1869 and his death, mostly historical, and in the proceedings of local societies; some of the scientific papers appeared in the ‘Quarterly Journal’ of the Geological Society of London, of which he became a fellow in 1875. Besides a series of guide-books and several smaller works, he was the author of: 1. ‘History of the Town and Borough of Devonport,’ Plymouth, 1870, 8vo. 2. ‘History of Plymouth,’ Plymouth, 1871, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1873; 3rd edit. 1890. 3. ‘The Three Towns Bibliotheca’ [for Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse], 1871, 8vo. 4. ‘The West Country Garland, selected from the Writings of the Poets of Devon and Cornwall,’ Plymouth, 1878, 8vo.

He was twice president of the Plymouth Association, and in 1891 of the Devonshire Association. A true son of the west, he loved its two great counties, and no stranger interested in their history or geology ever sought Worth's help in vain. He died suddenly at Shaugh Prior, where he was temporarily resident, on 3 July 1896, and was buried in the village churchyard. He married, 22 March 1860, at Stoke Damerel, Devonshire, Lydia Amelia, daughter of Richard Davies of the Dockyard, Devonport. One son and one daughter survived him.

A portrait in oils, painted by Lane in 1873, is in possession of the family. 