Walter Joseph Cresswell (1865 - 1950)

Born 1865 in New Zealand

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Reese) Cresswell — married 25 Mar 1891 in Papanui, Canterbury, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 18 Mar 1950 at about age 85 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

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Biography

Walter Joseph was born in 1865. He was the son of Robert Marshall Cresswell and Elizabeth Pattrick. ^[1] He married Hannah Reese in 1891 ^[2] (His brother Thomas later married Hannah's sister Sarah in 1896)

Mr and Mrs W. J. Cresswell (Christchurch) are still in England. Miss Kathleen Cresswell has been working at the Russian Hospital for English officers for some months. Mr C. R. C. Cresswell is expecting a commission in the Imperial Army, while Mr d'Arcy Cresswell, who was in the Middlesex Regiment and was severely .wounded, has obtained a transfer to the N.Z. Engineers.and another brother, with the N.Z.E.F.. is on his way to New Zealand for a reinforcements commission. ^[3]

He passed away in 1950 age 85 ^[4]

MR W. J. CRESSWELL Mr Walter Joseph Cresswell, a member of a pioneer Canterbury family and probably the oldest solicitor in the province, died at the Burwood Hospital on Saturday at the age of 86. Born on the Lincoln Road, Mr Cresswell was the second son of Mr R. M. Cresswell, the first manager of the Belfast and Wanganui freezing works. Both his mother and father arrived by the First Four Ships, and the fifth generation of the family is living in Canterbury to-day. Mr Cresswell began his legal work as office boy in Mr C. E. Salter’s office, and, after passing his examinations there, crossed to the West Coast and entered Sir Arthur Grimmer’s office as confidential clerk. Well before the turn of the century Mr Cresswell joined Sir Walter Stringer in partnership, and for the best part of a quarter of a century the firm of Stringer and Cresswell was well known in the legal profession throughout New Zealand. After several trips to England Mr Cresswell retired from law and farmed the well-known “Barnswood” estate in the Lismore-Mayfield district. He remembered vividly the great flood of 1868, and often used to speak of the fun he had paddling in the flood waters at Cook and Ross’s corner. Mr Cresswell was master of the St. Augustine’s Masonic Lodge about 1905.. Mr Cresswell’s wife predeceased him.’ He is survived by a family of four sons and two, daughters, Mrs E. A. Widdowson, of England, Miss M. Cresswell, of England, Mr Douglas Cresswell, of Governor’s Bay, Mr d’Arcy Cresswell, of London, England, Mr Chailes Cresswell, of Mayfield, and Mr Geoffrey Cresswell, of Ashburton.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Birth registration 1865/13396
2. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Marriage registration 1891/3615
3. ↑ THE PRESS, VOLUME LIII, ISSUE 15964, 27 JULY 1917, PAGE 2
4. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Death registration 1950/21227
5. ↑ OBITUARY ASHBURTON GUARDIAN, VOLUME 70, ISSUE 132, 20 MARCH 1950, PAGE 4