Patrick Costello (18 March 1824 – 17 October 1896) was an Australian businessman and politician active in the

Colony of Victoria The Colony of Victoria was a historical administrative division in Australia that existed from 1851 until 1901, when it federated with other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the southeastern corner of the Australian ...

. Costello was born in

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, Ireland. He arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

when he was 17, through an assisted migration scheme. Costello made his fortune as a builder and contractor during

the gold rush ''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his The Tramp, Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray (actor), Tom Murray, Henry Ber ...

, and built a large home in Carlton. He was elected to the

Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2021, the city has an area of and had a population of 149,615. The city's motto is "''vires acquirit eundo''" which ...

in 1855. Costello ran for the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

in 1859 and 1861, standing in the seat of North Melbourne and running on a liberal platform which included support for secular education and opposition to the Masters and Servants Acts. He was successful on his second attempt. Costello was sworn into the Legislative Assembly on 31 August 1861, but was expelled two months later on 1 November after being convicted of electoral fraud. This was not in relation to his own election, but rather his actions in the Mornington seat, where he organised

personation Personation (rather than ''im''personation) is a primarily legal term, meaning "to assume the identity of another person with intent to deceive". It is often used for the kind of voter fraud where an individual votes in an election, whilst pret ...

. Costello was sentenced to twelve months in prison, but received an early release on 31 March 1862. His business interests suffered as a result of his conviction, and he was declared insolvent in 1866. He did not become solvent again until 1891, but in the same year was elected to the

Town of North Melbourne The Town of North Melbourne was a local government area in Victoria, Australia, centred on the suburb of North Melbourne. It was first proclaimed on 30 September 1859 as the Municipality of Hotham, reflecting the original name of the suburb of Nort ...

council; he served as mayor from 1892 to 1893. Costello died in 1896, aged 72. He married Catherine Donovan in 1847, and had three children, but was widowed in 1866. His descendants include

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Tim Costello Timothy Ewen Costello (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a num ...

, both great-great-grandchildren.

References

* Geoff Browne and Jackie Cunningham, 'Costello, Patrick (1824–1896)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/costello-patrick-12861/text23223, published first in hardcopy 2005, accessed online 6 October 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Patrick 1824 births 1896 deaths Businesspeople from County Leitrim Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Victoria (state) local councillors Australian builders Expelled legislators 19th-century Australian politicians Politicians from County Leitrim