Elliston, South Australia

Elliston is a small coastal town in the Australian state of South Australia on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula 169 km northwest of Port Lincoln and 641 km west of Adelaide. The township is located on Waterloo Bay. It has a rainfall of 426 mm per annum. At the 2006 census, Elliston had a population of 377.HistoryThe first inhabitants of the land that is now Elliston were the Nauo people.The first recorded exploration of the adjacent coastline was by Matthew Flinders in the vessel HMS Investigator from 10 - 13 February 1802. He named the offshore islands but did not note the presence of Waterloo Bay in his log.Edward John Eyre explored the area on land in 1840 and 1841 on a journey to Western Australia from Port Lincoln. Originally named Waterloo Bay, the township was later named by Governor Sir William Jervois on a plan for the town on 23 November 1878. Locally it is believed to be named after the writer and educator Ellen Liston who was born in England in 1838 and emigrated to South Australia in 1850. She was a governess working on a local property (Nilkerloo) owned by John Hamp.It has also been suggested that Jervois, who had a military background chose to honour Sir Henry Walton Ellis (1783–1815) who was a hero of the Battle of Waterloo during which campaign he died of his wounds. The area was settled in the 1840s with Elliston being the central port from which the early settlers transported their wool and wheat to market. Sailing ships and later steam ships crossed Waterloo Bay’s notorious reefed entrance. A number of ships foundered in the bay due to its narrow entrance and variable tides.