Christopher Crabb Creeke (11 March 1820 – 22 May 1886) was an architect and surveyor who was largely responsible for shaping the early development of Bournemouth.
By the time he was 20, Creeke looked set to follow his father's trade as a tailor, however he moved to London to train as an architectural draughtsman.
Creeke seems to have arrived in Bournemouth around 1850, on a commission from Mary Shelley to convert a large property at Boscombe into her seaside retreat.
There was no co-ordination of effort, and in the case of the vast Branksome Estate, the promise of development potential had led to a tangled mass of mortgages and the ruination of at least one owner.
As a result of Creeke's work, the estate was soon up for sale and attracted some significant purchasers, such as the Talbot sisters and Charles William Packe.
Creeke was becoming invaluable to most of the major landowners in Bournemouth, but he was also aware that the ad hoc nature of the existing development had left the town in need of proper drains, water supply, roads and refuse collection.