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Cresswell History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Cresswell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
England

Early Origins of the Cresswell family

The surname Cresswell was first found in Renfrewshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù), a historic county of Scotland, today encompassing the Council Areas of Renfrew, East Renfrewshire, and Iverclyde, in the Strathclyde region of southwestern Scotland where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated at Carswell in the parish of Neilston in that shire, and later branched to Carnswell in the barony of Carnwath in Lanarkshire, and to Carswell in the barony of Hassendean in Roxburghshire.

"A family of Carsewells, who derived their name from Carsewell in the parish of Neilston, are said to have been settled in Renfrewshire for centuries, but they seldom appear in the public records. There is also a Carswell (in 15. cent., Creswell or Carswell) in the barony of Carnwath, Lanarkshire and there was a tenement of the same name in the barony of Hassendean, Roxburghshire. "

Alexander de Cressewell witnessed a charter by Roland of Galloway, son of Vchtred, c. 1200 and William Cresswell was Chancellor of Moray between 1281-1298. 1

King Edward I's short lived invasion of Scotland was a difficult time for many including this family as Robert de Cressewelle was one of the Scots prisoners of war taken at Dunbar Castle in 1296. Symon de Cresseville of the county of Roxburgh, and David de Cressewelle of Lanarkshire rendered homage (to King Edward I) in 1296. 1

Further to the south in England, the Hundreorum Rolls of 1723 list Richared de Carswall; (Dominus) de Carswill; and William de Karswill as all holding lands in Devon at that time. 2

The Cresswell variant hails from Cresswell, Northumberland and there the name literally meant Cress-Spring dervived from the Old English caerse, cress + wiell (a spring: cp. Old English wiellcaerse, watercress) 3

"The district comprises the townships of Cresswell and Ellington, the former of which was a possession of the Cresswell family previous to the reign of King John: the surface is generally level; and there is a good freestone-quarry. The old tower and mansionhouse of the Cresswells front the sea, and have in view the fine beach and sands of Druridge bay; the tower is 21½ feet long, and 16½ feet wide, within, and consists of a strong room vaulted with stone, on the groundfloor, and two rooms above, approached by a circular stone staircase. The new mansion, Cresswell Hall, the seat of A. J. Baker Cresswell, Esq., is a magnificent structure, erected in 1822." 4

Early History of the Cresswell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cresswell research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1373, 1557, 1560, 1567, 1569, 1572, 1583, 1603, 1623, 1625, 1654, 1670, 1684, 1688, 1709, 1710, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1715 and 1743 are included under the topic Early Cresswell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cresswell Spelling Variations

Medieval Scottish names are rife with spelling variations. This is due to the fact that scribes in that era spelled according to the sound of words, rather than any set of rules. Cresswell has been spelled Carswell, Cresswell, Carsewell, Cressville, Carswele, Kersewell, Cressewell, Chriswell and many more.

Early Notables of the Cresswell family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Joseph Cresswell (1557-1623?), was an English Jesuit, born in London and entered the Society of Jesus in Rome on 11 Oct. 1583. 5
Richard Cresswell (1688-1743), was an English politician; Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth (1710-1713), and for Wootton Bassett (1713-1715); and John Caswell (Carswell) (1654-1712), was an English...

Cresswell Ranking

In the United States, the name Cresswell is the 16,589^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6 However, in New Zealand, the name Cresswell is ranked the 893^rd most popular surname with an estimated 821 people with that name. 7

Cresswell migration to the United States +

Many Scots were left with few options other than to leave their homeland for the colonies across the Atlantic. Some of these families fought to defend their newfound freedom in the American War of Independence. Others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these families have recently been able to rediscover their roots through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations. Among them:

Cresswell Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

I Cresswell, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 8
James Cresswell, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1879 8

Cresswell migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cresswell Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

William Cresswell, English convict from Worcester, who was transported aboard the "Asia" on July 29th, 1823, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 9
Mr. William Cresswell, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Aurora" on 18th June 1835, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10
Mr. Joseph Cresswell, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 27th May 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 11
James Cresswell, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Statesman" in 1850 12

Cresswell migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cresswell Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Charles James Cresswell, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Thomas Cresswell, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Whitby" in 1841
Amelia Cresswell, aged 26, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
William Cresswell, aged 6, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
Eliza Cresswell, aged 4, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Mary Ann" in 1842
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cresswell migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 13

Cresswell Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

William Cresswell, who settled in St. Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1645

Contemporary Notables of the name Cresswell (post 1700) +

Brad Cresswell, American radio broadcaster and former opera singer
Maxwell John "Max" Cresswell (b. 1939), New Zealand philosopher and logician, known for his work in modal logic
Lyell Cresswell (1944-2022), New Zealand composer of contemporary classical music, younger brother of Max Cresswell, he received the APRA Silver Scroll for his contribution to New Zealand music in 1979 and he won the Ian Whyte Award for the orchestral work Salm in 1978
Mr. Derek Cresswell (1933-2013), British councillor, held the position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 2004 to 2006
Ian Cresswell (b. 1968), Australian composer awarded the Harrold Allen Memorial Prize for Composition and the Australian-Franco composition competition for young composers
Corbett Eric Cresswell (1932-2017), English footballer
Peter Cresswell FRS, British immunologist, and Eugene Higgins Professor of Immunobiology and Professor of Cell Biology and of Dermatology, at Yale School of Medicine
Helen Cresswell (1934-2005), English television scriptwriter and author of more than 100 children's books
George Fenwick "Fen" Cresswell (1915-1966), New Zealand cricketer who played three Tests for New Zealand
Arthur Edward Cresswell (1917-2002), New Zealand cricketer, New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year in 1949
... (Another 16 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Cresswell family +

Empress of Ireland

Mrs. Fanny Cresswell (1880-1914), Canadian Third Class Passenger from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada who was traveling aboard the Empress of Ireland and died in the sinking 14

HMS Hood

Mr. Henry R Cresswell (b. 1916), English Marine serving for the Royal Marine from Petersfield, Hampshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 15

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Asia 1 voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1823 with 151 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1823
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 18th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) STATESMAN 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Statesman.gif
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Commemoration Empress of Ireland 2014. (Retrieved 2014, June 16) . Retrieved from http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/listepsc1.html
H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm