On December 10th 1859, Sir George Ferguson Bowen established the Queensland colony. On June the 6th Queensland became a separate colony from NSW with its own governor.
The governor was chosen through a election process. For the entire of the 1800s all of the governors were male. The first governor was Sir George Ferguson Bowen. Women weren't allowed to vote, and neither were convicts that were still serving their penalty.
Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane was the 6th governor of New South Wales. After he finished his service as the governor the government divided to name a city after him for his fantastic work, so they called the capital of Queensland, Brisbane in his honour.