Cresswell Downs Station often referred to as Cresswell Downs is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory. It is situated about east of Elliott and south of Borroloola. Cresswell Downs is surrounded by other properties including Mallapunyah to the north west, Walhallow to the west, Kiana to the north, Calvert Hills Station to the north east, Benmarra to the west, Brunette Downs to the south and Anthony Lagoon to the south west. Several watercourses pass through the property including Cresswell Creek, Coanjula Creek and Puzzle Creek. The traditional owners of the area are the Wambaia. The first European to visit the area was the explorer Frank Hann in 1881. The station was established later the same year and was named after Sir William Rooke Creswell, the name was retained despite the error in spelling. It was selected by Ernest Favenc who had joined an expedition to the area to claim new pastoral lands for himself and his partner, Mr Brodie. A share in the property was sold by in 1881 to the De Salis brothers by Kilgour and Woodhouse. The property occupied an area of and was unstocked at the time. By 1883 Ernest Favenc sold his quarter share of the property now stocked with 2000 head of cattle to Brodie and De Salis. In 1895 Sidney North Innes in partnership with Mr. T.A. Perry purchased Cresswell Downs. Perry was killed by the Indigenous Australians who were employed on the station shortly afterward. Innes carried on for the next several years on his own. On one of the trips Innes was in pursuit of a buyer of a large mob of heifers for over a thousand miles. The drought of the early 1900s depleted the herd and in 1904 the owner completed the sale of what were left, about 3000 head and returned to Oxforshire in Englandfor the first time in 25 years. He returned in 1905 and the property. William Naughton acquired the property at some time prior to 1917 when he was overlanding small herds to butchers in Cloncurry. By 1923 Cresswell was owned by Naughton and Peter Nalty. By 1929 the pair had a falling out which ended up in the supreme court with Naughton claiming Nalty owed him £10,000 and 650 cattle and Nalty claiming Naughton owed him £7500, six years' salary and £5834 for a share in the property. Nalty was awarded £7,000 for back-pay but was not given a share of the property. By 1932 Naughton's sons, Tom and Frank were running Cresswell while their father concentrated on his other pastoral interests. Currently Cresswell Downs is owned by the Paraway Pastoral Company and run in conjunction with Walhallow Station.
