 Christian was born in Marylebone, London, on 20 September 1814, the seventh of nine children.His father, Joseph Christian (d. 1821), came from an old Isle of Man family of landed gentry whose own grandfather was Thomas Christian (d.1770), Rector of Crosthwaite in Cumberland.Many senior members of the family had held the post of Deemster (justice) on Man for centuries past.