His mother was Frances Dorothea née Cresswell (1768–1832), daughter of a distinguished northern family that could trace its ancestry back to the twelfth century and service in the Crusades.
[1] The family owned land in Northumberland and were scions of the Cresswells of Bibury, Sidbury and Sherston Pinkney, ancestors of Edward I.
Cresswell found his familiarity with his father's nautical career an advantage in the maritime city of Liverpool and he soon established a reputation in commercial and shipping cases.
[1] From the 1820s, Brougham's and James Scarlett's energies were directed elsewhere and Cresswell became a leader of the northern circuit, being made recorder of Hull in 1830.
It was further alleged that Cresswell had induced the agreement by suggesting to Thesiger at an early stage that he had formed an unfavourable view of his client's case.
At Thesiger's trial, counsel Charles Rann Kennedy described Cresswell's behaviour as being of a "highly criminal nature" amounting to a "fraud" and a "misdemeanour".
[1] The new law increased petitions for divorce one hundredfold and there were fears of chaos but Cresswell took a managerial role in regulating the new flood of litigation.
Cresswell died in office, from complications after a fall from his horse in Constitution Hill, London,[2] and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.