Rev. Fr. John Robert Cressey was b. about 1400 at Boston, England; graduated at Oxford College and Divinity School. Even while a student he distinguished himself as a theologian. He wrote quite extensively; was very active in religious work, and flourished about 1450. His writings were scholarly, and his preaching eloquent. He belonged to the Carmelite House and became head of his monastery at Boston, Lincolnshire, England, and died there about 1465.
Sir Hugh Cressey was b. about 1575 in England; graduated at Oxford College and Law School; was a Barrister (or lawyer) at Lincoln's Inn, and was descended from an ancient and genteel family settled at Holme, near Hodsack, Nottinghamshire, England. He m. a dau. of Thomas D'Oylie, M.D., an eminent London physician. He probably belonged to the Church of England, (Presbyterian).
Rev. Hugh Paulinus Cressey, B.A., M.A., D.D., son of Sir Hugh, was b. in 1605 at Thorp Salvin in Yorkshire, England. At 14 he went to Oxford College, where he graduated, B.A. In 1623 when 18. In 1625 he was elected a probationer of Merton College and in 1626 was made a true and perpetual fellow of that society. After having commenced M.A. in 1629 and taken holy orders he officiated as Chaplain to Sir Thomas Lord Wentworth while that nobleman was president of the council of York, and later Lord Deputy of Ireland and Earl of Strafford. In 1635 he was installed in Christ Church, Dublin, Ireland. While at Oxford, Cressey was accounted a quick and accurate disputant, a man of good nature, manners and refinedness of soul. He returned to England in 1642 and obtained a Canonary of Windsor; wrote the Church History of England from the beginning of Christianity to the Norman Conquest. His scholarly attainments and power as a preacher have given him favor with all the churches of England and his ministry has been honored by the Protestant and Catholic Churches. After mature consideration and many conferences with D.D.'s he was reconciled to the Roman Church, and made a public recantation at Rome before the inquisition in 1646. He went to Paris to prepare for the Priesthood, and while there he was befriended by Henrietta Maria, Queen of England, who assigned him a hundred crowns to defray the cost of a journey to a monastery. He became a Benedictine Monk at St. Gregory's, Douay, August 22, 1649. On the m. of Charles II with Catherine of Braganza he became one of her Majesty's servants and resided mostly at Somerset House in the Strand. Rev. Fr. Cressey d. at East Grinstead, Sussex, England, in the house of Richard Caryll, a gentleman of an ancient Catholic family, on August 10, 1674, and was buried in the Parish Church.
Professor Edward Cressey was b. in 1792 at Dartford, Kent, England; was educated at Rawes Academy, Bromley, Kent; was an architect and civil engineer. He became a pupil of James Perkins, an architect of Ely Place, and served 2 years with George Smith of Mercer's Hall. In 1816, in company with his friend, George Taylor, he undertook a walking tour through England for the purpose of studying, measuring, and drawing the cathedrals and most interesting buildings. Cressey became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1820, also a member of the British Archaeological Association. He m. in 1824 Eliza Taylor, by whom he had 2 sons and 2 dau's. His eldest son, Edward, Jr., followed his father's profession with great success. Edward, Sr., d. at South Darenth, Kent, in 1858, at 66; son d. in 1870 at 47.
Sir Edward Shepherd Cressey (Creasy), M.A., was b. in 1812 at Bexley, Kent, England, where his father was a land agent, auctioneer and publisher. Young Cressey, having displayed intellectual leanings, was placed on the Eton Foundation and obtained the Newcastle Scholarship in 1831. He became fellow of King's College in Cambridge in 1834 and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1837; was assistant Judge at Westminster Court. In 1840 he was professor of modern and ancient history in London University. In 1860 was Chief Justice of Ceylon, and received the honor of Knighthood. He wrote ``Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World,'' ``History of England,'' and assisted in ``Tipperary Papers.'' He was a man of vast and very accurate knowledge; died in England, January 27, 1878, at 66.