He was an ardent supporter of Oliver Cromwell and was an officer in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth of England.

Worsley commanded the detachment used in the expulsion of the Long Parliament[4] in 1653 and took charge of the "bauble" when Cromwell ordered it to be removed.

[2][4] He confiscated the property of Royalists, put Roman Catholics in jail, suppressed horse-racing, and promoted the public good according to his own ideals.

The family of Charles Worsley remained at Platt Hall until 1906, when it was sold to the Manchester Corporation, the city then encroaching on its estate.

Their grandson, Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley (known as Tindal), was a bomber pilot in the Second World War and a major instigator of the "Great Escape".