John Costigan was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 judge and politician who served in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 and in the Cabinet

Cabinet of Canada

The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...

 of several Prime Ministers of Canada.

Costigan was born on February 1, 1835 in Saint-Nicolas

Saint-Nicolas, Quebec

Saint-Nicolas is a district of the city of Lévis, Quebec, Canada on the St. Lawrence River.-History:The history of Saint-Nicolas goes back to 1694. It is one of the oldest parishes in Canada...

, Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

, the son of Irish immigrants John Costigan and Bridget Dunn. He was educated at Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière in Lower Canada from 1850 to 1852. In 1857, he became registrar of deeds and wills for Victoria County

Victoria County, New Brunswick

Victoria County is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Farming, especially of potatoes, is the major industry in the county.-Communities:...

 in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

 and a judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. He resigned from these posts in 1861 when he was elected to be a member of the 19th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly

19th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly

The 19th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly represented New Brunswick between February 12, 1862 and February 8, 1865.The assembly sat at the pleasure of the Governor of New Brunswick Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon....

, representing the electoral district of Victoria.

On September 20, 1867 he was elected to the 1st Canadian Parliament

1st Canadian Parliament

The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867 until July 8, 1872. The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was prorogued prior to the 1872 election.It was...

 as a member of the Liberal-Conservative Party

Liberal-Conservative Party

The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...

 by the riding of Victoria

Victoria (New Brunswick electoral district)

Victoria was a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, and was re-distributed in 1914 into Restigouche—Madawaska and Victoria—Carleton ridings.The riding's...

 in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

. He was re-elected nine times, and he became a member of the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 on February 6, 1906. During his time as a Member of Parliament, he was a Minister of Inland Revenue, a Secretary of State of Canada, a Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and an acting Minister of Trade and Commerce. He was Dean of the House

Dean of the House (Canada)

In Canada, the Dean of the House is the Member of the House of Commons with the longest unbroken record of service who is not a Cabinet Minister, party Leader, House Leader or Whip. The Dean is responsible for presiding over the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons at the beginning of...

 from 1896 to 1907.

On January 15, 1907, he was appointed a member of the Canadian Senate

Canadian Senate

The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

 for the senatorial division of Victoria, New Brunswick. He died in office on September 29, 1916 in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. He was interred

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 in Grand Falls

Grand Falls, New Brunswick

Grand Falls is a Canadian town located in Victoria County, New Brunswick.Situated on the Saint John River, the town derives its name from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges over which the river drops 23 metres.-Geography:Grand Falls is located in the valley of the St...

.