One of the oldest cities in Australia, Brisbane was founded upon the ancient homelands of the indigenous Turrbal and Jagera peoples. Named after the Brisbane River on which it is located—which in turn takes its name from Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales at the time of the city’s founding—the area was chosen as a place for secondary offenders from the Sydney Colony.
Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859.