Frank Worthington

Frank Worthington (1874–1964), often identified as Frank Vigers Worthington, was a British colonial official and author associated with Northern Rhodesia. A historical account of the Victoria Falls and Kazungula area says he arrived there in September 1897 with Major Robert Coryndon, later serving as District Commissioner for the Batoka District and afterward as Secretary for Native Affairs for North-Western Rhodesia.

He is best known as the author of The Witch Doctor and other Rhodesian Studies, published in 1922. Project Gutenberg identifies him there as Frank Worthington, C.B.E., and notes him as “lately Secretary for Native Affairs, Northern Rhodesia.” The book is a collection of stories and essays rooted in his experiences of colonial administration and life in the region.

Today, Worthington is mainly remembered through that writing, which preserves a strongly period-specific perspective on Rhodesia. Readers often approach his work both for its storytelling and as a window into the attitudes and institutions of the colonial world he served in.