IN ALMOST 180 years of European settlement, Queensland has produced some amazing characters. We have been blessed by the best and cursed by the worst.

So how did we come to choose those on this site?

It is not vital that they were born and bred in Queensland — if their good works or their misdeeds had a significant impact here, then they had an entry qualification. And the timeline reminds us there has been no shortage of contenders for infamy or applause.

Penal colony governor Capt Patrick Logan could have been a prize selection as a sinner, given his ruthlessness. Yet, in his time, he was lauded for his pioneering work.

Late police commissioner Frank Bischof could have been chosen but, unlike Terry Lewis later, he was never formally accused — much less convicted — of anything in his lifetime.

Politicians have faced serious allegations — the late Russ Hinze was one — but he went to his grave before going to trial.

Terrible murderers have traumatised the state. Sadly, most of their crimes would not be horrifyingly remarkable in our increasingly violent world.

There have been any number of compassionate church leaders, honest politicians, incorruptible police, talented and honest businesspeople and the like and our state is richer for them. But does doing your job qualify you for sainthood?

Of course, my definition of sainthood is rather more flexible — and certainly more generous — than the rigorous demands of the Catholic Church, which has yet to canonise Blessed Mary MacKillop.

My arbitrary, limited, personal choice is based on contemporary opinions of people, and whether they showed remarkable service beyond the call of duty or, conversely, if their sins were so utterly appalling and proven that the revulsion was universal.