He was the son of Ana Joaquina Ribeiro and Father José Joaquim da Costa Pinheiro, priest of the parish of Candemil in the Amarante municipality, who only acknowledged paternity legally in 1885 in the will published after his death.

His speaking skills led to the writer, Camilo Castelo Branco giving him the nickname of the "Sea Eagle".

[1][2][3] He served as the minister of the interior in 1890-1891, being responsible for defeating the Revolt of January 31, 1891, which was the first attempt to install a republican government in Portugal.

[1][3][4] Cândido served as president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and is known also as a member of the Vencidos da Vida, a group of monarchist intellectuals that included the author Eça de Queiroz.

[1] At the time of the 5 October 1910 revolution, which overthrew the monarchy, he was the Attorney General of the Crown and Treasury, a position that he had held since 1898.