Charles Cressey was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England on 25 December 1875. His father was a carpenter. He was still living in Lincoln at the time of the 1881 England and Wales Census. The 1891 Census gives his address as Mason Street, Horwich, Bolton, Lancashire and his occupation as Architect assistant. It is not known, however, with whom he received his training. In the 1901 Census his occupation is given as Architect and he was living in Horwich, Lancashire. In 1899 he formed an architectural partnership with William Keighley (1874-1952) as Cressey & Keighley with offices at 65 New Road, Horwich, and Euston Road, Morecambe. The partnership was dissolved in 1909 and that year Cressey emigrated to the USA. Keighley emigrated to Canada the following year.
Cressey settled in California and soon after his arrival was employed as a draughtsman by John C. Austin. In c.1915 he entered into partnership with the architects Charles Quayle (1865-1940) and Edward Quayle (1869-1940) of The Quayle Brothers in San Diego, California. During his time working at the practice, Cressey designed the Salt Lake and Union Pacific Building at Balboa Park, San Diego He was was also involved in the design of the stadium at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. Cressey withdrew from partnership in 1916 when he was drafted into the US Army.
Following World War One, he joined Charles W. Kent & Son, a firm of contractors and builders in Glendale, California, where he headed their architects' department.
From c.1919, Cressey lived in Glendale, California, where, by the mid-1920s, he had established his own architectural practice.
In 1928 he formed a partnership with the British-born architect Robert Farquhar Train (1869-1951) as Train & Cressey. The address of the firm was given as 331 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles in 1928 and 227 Western Mutual life Building, Los Angeles in 1930 and 1933. The partnership was dissolved in 1938.
Cressey was a member of the San Diego Architectural Association and was its President in 1917, and in 1927 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA). He died on 13 July 1966.
With William Keighley: Barclays Bank on Euston Road, Morecambe; the clock tower on the promenade, Morecambe; and a bank in Market Street, Morecambe
As an independent architect in Glendale, California: the First Baptist Church in Gendale; and several other buildings in the Glendale area.
With Robert Farquhar Train: John Simpson Residence in Los Angeles (1926); and Bell High School in Bell, California (1935)
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006