My father came to Toronto in 1908 from Sheffield, England when he was about 6 months old. His name was Robert Percy Cretney and my Grandfather's name was John Hemsley Thomas Cretney. My Grandfather had a brother Jim in Belleville and if I recall correctly my great uncle Jim was a blacksmith. All my father's brothers and sisters lived in Toronto except for my uncle Gord Cretney who moved to California (40-50 years ago?)

Years ago I was told of a large Cretney gathering that's periodically organized in the U.S. (Ohio?) and it's attended by hordes. Noone I know of ever looked into it and I mention this only because if this is true it would seem there are a large number of Cretneys in the States.