He was born on 10 May 1800 in Faversham, Kent, the son of Thomas Tress (1779–1825) and Esther Finch (1781–1854).
He married Ann Fearn (b. ca. 1803) on 7 February 1832 in Langham and they had the following children:
Ellen Anne Ruck Tress (1836–1919)
Marian (or Mary Anne) Tress (born 1839)
Esther Tress (born 1841)
He married secondly Emma Wood (born 1830), youngest daughter of Lieutenant William Wood, R.N. of Brambling House, Kent on 19 November 1853.[2] at St Paul's, Bunhill Row, Finsbury Park. They had one son.
William Tress (born 1854)
He died on 7 March 1859 at Redhill Lodge, Redhill after a short illness.[3]
He was articled to Sir William Tite. He worked for the Reading, Guildford & Reigate railway and then was appointed surveyor and architect to the South Eastern Railway where he designed many stations.