Michael Cayley was a Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 lawyer and political figure. He represented Beauharnois

Beauharnois (electoral district)

Beauharnois was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1935, from 1949 to 1953, and from 1968 to 1972....

 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...

 as a Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 member from 1867 to 1872 and again in 1878.

He was born in Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and educated at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. Cayley studied law and was called to the bar in 1864. He practised law in Beauharnois

Beauharnois, Quebec

Beauharnois is a city located in the Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional County Municipality of southwestern Quebec, Canada and is part of Greater Montreal Area. The city's population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 11,918...

. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1867 but defeated in 1872. Cayley died in Montreal less than three months after being reelected in 1878 at the age of 36.