 He had immigrated to Australia with his parents and family in 1841 from County Fermanagh, Ireland.The family was well-established farmers and business people in Ireland, and on arriving in Australia the Allinghams settled near Armidale in New South Wales where they engaged in grazing and inn keeping.In 1852, in the wake of the public acclaim afforded to Leichhardt's ventures in north Queensland, Christopher Allingham left Armidale in search of pastoral land in the Burdekin region, only to return to New South Wales when he found the land was not available for selection.