John Edward Gibben was a lawyer, judge and political figure in the Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

, Canada. He served as Yukon Commissioner from 1947 to 1950.

He was born in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the son of William Gibben and Eleanor Burman. He came to Canada with his family in 1896 and was educated at the University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

. Gibben served during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He articled in law with Charles Patrick Wilson and Hugh Amos Robson

Hugh Robson

Hugh Amos Robson was a politician and judge in Manitoba. He briefly served as leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party in the 1920s.-Career:...

 and was called to the Manitoba bar in 1921. In 1938, Gibben married Lyla B. Hume. He served as stipendiary magistrate for the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

 from 1938 to 1941 and for the Yukon from 1941 to 1947. Gibben was also a prominent freemason. In 1950, he was named judge in the Yukon Territorial Court and served until 1958.