Christopher Dunkin was born on September 25, 1812, in Walworth, London, England.

He was a lawyer, politician, and judge. He studied at the universities of London, Glasgow, and Harvard (1829-1833). As a loyal British subject and conservative, Dunkin did not hold a favourable view of life in the United States and instead left for Montreal in 1837, where British patriotic fervour was at its peak. He served as a correspondent for the Morning Courier (1837-1838) and then turned to public administration. He served as a Secretary to the Education Commission and then to the Postal Service Commission before he became Deputy Provincial Secretary for Canada East (1842-1847). He started studying law in the offices of Alexander Buchanan and then Francis Godschall Johnson and was called to the bar in 1846. He became a partner in Montreal's most prestigious law firm, Meredith & Bethune. In 1849, Meredith accepted a judicial position in Quebec City and soon afterwards, Dunkin left to set up his own practice in Knowlton in the Eastern Townships. In 1857, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for the Quebec riding of Drummond-Arthabaska and later Brome. In 1864, he introduced a temperance act, known as the Dunkin Act. In 1869, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture but resigned in 1871 when he was appointed a Puisne Justice of the Quebec Superior Court.

In 1835, he married Mary Barber (1813–1891). He died on January 6, 1881, in Knowlton, Quebec.