Christopher Carrigue Lewin was born in Ballymote, Co Sligo, Ireland on 29 March 1883. He was the son of Christopher Lewin, a railway porter, and English-born mother Margaret Reynolds. He had at least two elder siblings.

When Lewin was a child he and his family relocated from Ireland to England, settling in Oldham, Lancashire where his father continued to work on the railways. 

In 1909 he married Amelia Jeffs (b. 13 October 1884 in Warwickshire) and their only child, daughter Mildred Christina was born the following year. By 1911 the family home was at 124 Bardsay Road in Walton, Liverpool and Lewin was described as ship’s steward for the Cunard Line. 

In April 1912 Lewin was serving as a second cabin pantry steward aboard the eastward-bound voyage of the Carpathia when that ship rescued the survivors of the Titanic.

Lewin continued to work at sea for many years and served with the merchant fleet during WWI. He later relocated to Southampton where he worked as a steward aboard the Queen Mary. 

Christopher Lewin died in Southampton in 1957.