Miscellaneous notes for Nicholas Cresswell

Nicholas Cresswell (1750-1804), son of Thomas Cresswell and Elizabeth Oliver, born in Edale,

Derbyshire, England. England. After the Rev War, he m. Mary Mellor and they lived in

Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England.

Engraved on a large marble plaque in the lobby of the Visitors Center in Williamsburg, VA, is

a quotation from the journal of Nicholas Cresswell .

“In the 1300’s a Cresswell-Cresswell was in the service of the King of England and was given

a castle on the England-Scotland border (Northumberland section) to be a protectorate of that

section of England. As late as 1924 the property was still in the possession of an heir of

Nicholas Cresswell (but the heir was a different name than Cresswell).”

THE JOURNAL OF NICHOLAS CRESSWELL

First published 1924

Reissued 1968 by Kennikat Press

Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 68-26265

Manufactured in the United States of America

FOREWORD

Nicholas Cresswell, the Diarist, was the eldest son of Thomas Cresswell of Edale, a parish in the

Peak of Derbyshire, which was formerly part of the Forest of High Peak, Derbyshire, one of the

largest forests in England. Nicholas was born at Crowden-le-Booth, Edale, in December, 1750.

He was, therefore, twenty-four years old when he went to America in 1774. His mother was

Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Cresswell, and a daughter and heiress of Richard Oliver of Smalldale

in Bradwell, near to Castleton in Derbyshire. His father was a local land-owner, who owned and

farmed his estate in Edale and was a large sheep farmer. No doubt he was a very hard ruler, but

he was a man very much respected in the Peak district, and he established a school for the

education of the children about his own home. I believe that Nicholas was educated in this

school and in the Wakefield Grammar School.

The Cresswell family originally came from Cresswell in Northumberland, where they held land

under the English Kings in consideration of their keeping up castle Cresswell and assisting,

whenever required, in repelling the Scotch when they invaded England. A younger member of

the Northumberland Cresswell family settled near Chapel-en-le-Frith in the Peak of Derbyshire

and founded a family there, which held lands under the Crown in and about Chapel-el-le-Frith

from about 1350 down to 1631. Ralph Cresswell, of Malcoff in Chapel-en-le-Frith, sold his

property there about 1631 to the Ford family and took a grant of land with Giles Barber in Edale

when it was disafforested. The original grant was from the Trustees of the Corporation of

London. The Corporation had lent Charles I a large sum of money in return for a grant of

Crown lands and these Trustees sold land in Edale to Ralph Cresswell. His share was known

as Crowden-le-Booth, now called Upper Booth and situated at the north end of the Edale Valley.

The Edale branch of the Cresswell family used the same coat of arms as the Cresswells of

Northumberland, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, President of the Probate and Admiralty Court, who

was at one time the head of the Northumberland family, acknowledged the Derbyshire branch

as being descended from the Northumberland family of the same name.

This Ralph Cresswell was one of the twenty-one founders of the Chapel of Ease at Edale under

the mother church at Castleton. The stipend of the Vicar of Edale was provided by each of the

original founders charging his estate with an annual sum. Crowden-le-Booth possessed very large

grazing rights for sheep and cattle on the hilly district of the Peak, and here it was that the

Cresswell family settled and built their home. A local photograph shows the original house and

the cluster of buildings around it. In the old building is a large barn which was turned into a

schoolhouse and a residence for the schoolmaster, and this was provided by Thomas Cresswell

for the children of the immediate neighbourhood.

Nicholas Cresswell was helping his father on his Edale estate when he decided to go to America

in 1774. He went to Virginia, sailing from Liverpool in 1774, and returned to Edale in 1777.

He kept a diary from the time he left Edale until his return. On April 21st, 1781, he married,

at Wirksworth Parish Church, Derbyshire, about fourteen miles north of Derby, Mary, the

youngest daughter, a so-heiress, of Samuel Mellor of Southsitch, Idridgehay, in the Parish of

Wirksworth, in the County of Derby. He died when fifty-three years of age on July 14th, 1804,

at Idridgehay, and was buried at Wirksworth Parish Church.

His son, Robert Cresswell, owned the Edale and other estates in the Peak and also the Idridgehay

property. He succeeded to the Edale property on the death of his grandfather, Thomas Cresswell,

in 1808.

The “Kirk” referred to in the Diary as a storekeeper was evidently a son of the blacksmith of

Edale, who had settled in Virginia and who befriended Nicholas because he knew his people.

The Diary came into my [the author] possession on the death of my father, Frederick Thornely

of Helsby, Cheshire. Joseph Cresswell was the youngest brother of Nicholas Cresswell and his

daughter Ann married my grandfather, Samuel Thornely of Liverpool. My father, Frederick

Thornely, eventually came into part of the Edale property and also Southsitch, Idridgehay, which

had formerly belonged to Nicholas Cresswell. My father also came into the Nicholas Cresswell

diary and on my father’s death in 1918 it came to me.

The portrait of Nicholas Cresswell also came to me with the diary. I also have the original sea-

chest, which Nicholas Cresswell had made by John Braddock of Chapel-en-le-Frith and took with

him to America and brought back again. I also have a bison horn, silver mounted, which

Nicholas brought home with him. One of my sisters has an Indian headdress which was

presented to Nicholas by the North American Indians when he traded amongst them, and we also

have at home the snowshoes and tomahawk which he possessed.

Crowden-le-Booth passed to Nicholas Cresswell’s eldest son, Robert, and on his death in 1862

it went to George Cresswell, who about 1889 sold it to Mr. William Champion of Edale and

Riddlesworth Hall, Thetford, Norfolk, who is the present owner. In Crowden-le-Booth was some

very old oak furniture, which formerly belonged to the Cresswell family. This is now owned by

Mr. George Cresswell, who lives in Herefordshire. by Samuel Thornely. March, 1924 ***

Name Date Spouse/parent Location Ref

Ann Cresswell c.25 Nov 1642 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Ann Cresswell b. 1736 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Ann Cresswell b. 1755 Nicholas Cresswell & Hannah , Derby IGI

Ann Cresswell b. Joseph Cresswell Edale, Derby Thornley

Daniel Cresswell b. 1745 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Edward Cresswell Thomas Cresswell & Ann Bought Tidewell, Derby IGI

Edward Cresswell c.27 Dec 1646 Ralph Cresswell & Elizabeth Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Elizabeth Cresswell b. 1710 Nicholas Cresswell & Jane Chapel, Derby IGI

Elizabeth Cresswell b. 1733 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Frederick Thornley ** b. Ann Cresswell & Samuel Thornley Edale, Derby Thornley

Grace Cresswell b. 1697 Nicholas Cresswell & Mary Chapel, Derby IGI

Hannah Cresswell b. 1740 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Joan Cresswell m.21 May 1627 Joan m. Thomas Lowe Chapel, Derby Parish rec

John Cresswell b. 1724 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Joseph Cresswell b. Thomas Cresswell Edale, Derby Thornley

Martha Cresswell b. 1738 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Mary Cresswell b. 1705 Nicholas Cresswell & Jane Chapel, Derby IGI

Mary Cresswell b. 1728 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Mary Mellor Cresswell c.26 Apr 1786 Nicholas Cresswell & Mary Mellor Edale, Derby Thornley

Nicholas Cresswell Thomas Cresswell & Ann Bought Edale, Derby IGI

Nicholas Cresswell m.27 May 1632 Nicholas m. Anne Carington Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Nicholas Cresswell c.25 Mar 1632 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Nicholas Cresswell c.08 Mar 1640 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Nicholas Cresswell c.08 Mar 1641 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby 7109223

Nicholas Cresswell m.22 Nov 1649 Nicholas m. Anne Marchinton Chapel, Derby 7302205

Nicholas Cresswell m.18 Dec 1660 Nicholas m. Kathleen Kirhe Chapel, Derby 7109512

Nicholas Cresswell m.01 Dec 1660 Nicholas m. Katherine Kyrke Chapel, Derby 7302205

Nicholas Cresswell m. 1690 Nicholas m. Maria Short Norton/Sheffield, Derby IGI

Nicholas Cresswell c.05 Nov 1699 Nicholas Cresswell & Elizabeth Edale, Derby 7123624

Nicholas Cresswell c.05 Nov 1699 Nicholas Cresswell & Elizabeth Castleton, Derby 7429428

Nicholas Cresswell c.03 Feb 1722 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby 7123624

Nicholas Cresswell * b. Dec 1750 Thomas Cresswell Edale, Derby Thornley

Nicholas Cresswell m.26 Jun 1752 Nicholas m. Hannah Bocking Chapel, Derby 7302205

Nicholas Cresswell m. 1752 Nicholas m. Hannah Bocking Chapel, Derby IGI

Nicholas Cresswell m. Jun 1752 Nicholas m. Hannah Bocking Chapel, Derby 7417229

Nicholas Cresswell m. Jun 1752 Nicholas m. Hannah Bocking Chapel, Derby A455288 0661

Nicholas Cresswell b. 1756 Nicholas Cresswell & Hannah , Derby IGI

Nicholas Cresswell c.15 May 1756 Nicholas Cresswell & Ann Chapel, Derby 7109223

Nicholas Cresswell m. 1781 Nicholas m. Mary Mellor Wirksworth, Derby IGI

Nicholas Cresswell * m.21 Apr 1781 Nicholas m. Mary Mellor Wirksworth, Derby M059491 0679

Nicholas Cresswell * m.21 Apr 1781 Nicholas m. Mary Mellor Wirksworth, Derby Thornley

Ralph Cresswell c.21 Jul 1622 Ralph Cresswell & Alice Malcalf Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Ralph Cresswell c.01 Jun 1645 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Richard Cresswell b. Thomas Cresswell Edale, Derby Thornley

Richard Cresswell m. Richard m. Elizabeth Oliver Bradwell, Derby Thornley

Robert Cresswell m.06 Mar 1735 Robert m. Mary Pierson Chapel, Derby A184645 2516

Robert Cresswell c.24 Dec 1783 Nicholas Cresswell & Mary Mellor Chapel, Derby 7511406 50

Robert Cresswell c.24 Dec 1783 Nicholas Cresswell & Mary Mellor Edale, Derby Thornley

Robert Cresswell m.30 Apr 1786 Robert m. Maria Mellor Chapel, Derby A184645 2508

Robert Cresswell m.26 May 1817 Robert m. Maria Mellor Chapel, Derby A170516 7495

Robert Cresswell m.26 May 1818 Robert m. Maria Mellor Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Robert Cresswell c.07 Oct 1821 William Cresswell & Lydia Chapel, Derby 7226504 28

Robert Cresswell c.09 Feb 1834 Robert Cresswell & Mary Chapel, Derby C048511 2794

Robert Cresswell c.09 Feb 1834 Robert Cresswell & My Whitebrough Chapel, Derby Parish rec

Samuel Cresswell b. 1730 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Samuel Cresswell c.28 Feb 1730 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby 7123624 29

Thomas Cresswell m. 1718 Thomas m. Annie Hill Bakewell, Derby IGI

Thomas Cresswell m. 1721 Thomas m. Anna Lynn Castleton, Derby IGI

Thomas Cresswell b. 1726 Thomas Cresswell & Ann Edale, Derby IGI

Thomas Cresswell b.abt 1761 Thomas Cresswell Edale, Derby Thornley

Thomas Cresswell c.23 Sept 1792 Nicholas Cresswell & Mary Mellor Edale, Derby Thornley

Thomas Cresswell d.1808 Richard Cresswell & Elizabeth Oliver Edale, Derby Thornley

William Cresswell c.01 Mar 1633 Ralph Cresswell Chapel, Derby Parish rec

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES FROM CORRESPONDENTS

Aunt Betty: “Nicholas Cresswell (noted diaryist) must have been a 3rd or 4th cousin to our Walter James, and

they both were in America when the Revolution began. Nicholas was eager to leave this country but our

ancestor fought having to return. Through the Smithsonian Institute, I was able to procure a copy of the Diary

Nicholas C kept of this stay in America. I’m sure there is a family connection as he complains of having an

upset stomach all of the time while here, and I’m sure you’ve heard of the `Cresswell Stomach’ from your

grandmother, and you probably heard some of the other history mentioned above from her also.”

Bocking: Cresswell researcher – K. J. Cowling (Member 11521) 52 Woodlands Lane, Shirley, Solihull, West

Midlands B90 2PT, England. Interested in Cresswell in Malmesbury Wilts in 18 – 19 century

In 1831 there was a cholera epidemic in Darlaston, Dudley, a suburb of Birmingham.

A samitation board was formed & one of the inspectors was Thomas Cresswell

Wills in Derbyshire prior to 1858 are held in Lichfield.