Background
William Costello was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1875 to John William Costello and Elizabeth Copps. In adult life, he changed his middle name to his mother"s maiden name, Copps, the name by which he was generally known.
politician List of mayors of Calgary
William Costello was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1875 to John William Costello and Elizabeth Copps. In adult life, he changed his middle name to his mother"s maiden name, Copps, the name by which he was generally known.
As a child, he was known as Copps Costello, the name by which he is described in the 1891 census for Calgary, having been enumerated as Michael William Costello in the 1881 census for Renfrew Village, Ontario. Copps arrived in Calgary on the historic first train to the city in 1883. His early education was in Calgary and he became an apprentice printer.
After completing his apprenticeship, he began working for the Calgary Herald.
He went on to study medicine at Queen"s University in Kingston in 1904. He then went to London, England for a year"s post-graduate education and continued with further medical studies at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.
While in Ireland, he visited his father"s birthplace at Trienearagh, County Kerry. On his return to Calgary, Costello entered municipal politics.
In 1913 and 1914, he was an alderman on Calgary City Council.
In the latter year, he was chosen to carry the responsibilities of acting mayor, during Mayor Sinnott"s absence of three months. In the election for the following year, he was elected Mayor of Calgary. He spent four years as mayor - from January 2, 1915 to January 2, 1919.
He ran unsuccessfully as a Conservative Modern Language Association candidate in the Calgary electoral riding in the 1921 and 1926 Alberta general elections.
Following his retirement from the mayoralty, Costello became connected with the Calgary Iron Works, where he worked in an executive capacity for many years before retiring for health reasons. He died in 1936, aged 60.
Costello was a founding member of the Southern Alberta Pioneer and Old Timers" Association and served as Grand Knight on the Calgary Council of the Knights of Columbus.