Brisbane, Queensland is named in honour of a Brit - specifically Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane.

Brisbane was born at Largs in Ayrshire, Scotland and he was educated at the University of Edinburgh.

Between 1821 and 1825, on the recommendation of The Duke of Wellington, he held the position of Governor of New South Wales, a post he held until 1825. While Governor, Brisbane improved the land grants system and reformed the currency. He trialled crops of coffee, tobacco, cotton and flax.

In 1823 John Oxley was sent by Major-General Brisbane to find a site for a new gaol for convicts who were repeat offenders. Oxley discovered a large river flowing into Moreton Bay and convicts began arriving there in 1824. Oxley proposed that both the river and the settlement be named after Brisbane. The convict settlement became a town in 1834.

So there you have it. The city of Brisbane, like Sydney, began its history as a convict settlement and was named after a British soldier and Governer of New South Wales.

Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane died in 1860 in Largs.