Nicholas Cresswell (5 January 1750 – 26 July 1804) was an English diarist.Cresswell was the son of a landowner and sheep farmer in Crowden-le-Booth, Edale, Derbyshire.
At the age of 24, he sailed to the American colonies after becoming acquainted with a native of Edale, who was now resident in Alexandria, Virginia.
For the next three years he kept a journal of his experiences, along with comments on political and social issues.
He described slaves in Maryland dancing to a banjo, fashioned out a gourd, as "something in the imitation of a guitar, with only four strings".
He became unpopular due to his opposition to the independence cause in the American War of Independence.
Cresswell returned to England, and after a failed attempt to receive a commission from the ex-governor of Virginia, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, he returned to Edale to resume farming.