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. At the 2006 census, Elliston had a population of 377. History The first inhabitants of the land that is now Elliston were the Nauo. The first recorded exploration of the adjacent coastline was by Matthew Flinders in the vessel 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. It is named after the writer and educator Ellen Liston who was born in London in 1838 and emigrated to South Australia in 1850. She was a governess working on a local property (Nilkerloo) owned by John Hamp. Those dismissive of women's contributions to history have suggested that Jervois, who had a military background, chose to honor Sir Henry Walton Ellis (1783–1815) who was a hero of the Battle of Waterloo during which campaign he died of his wounds. However it is recorded that Jervois liked naming places after people he knew and the town was gazetted formally as Elliston in 1878 after being informally called Ellie's Town. The Sydney Morning Herald write of the town's naming after Ellen Liston: "The honour was a combination of the wide spread respect and admiration she enjoyed in the area and Jervois' penchant for naming towns after friends and family." [Ref= https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/elliston-20040208-gdkqis.html ] 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. The Nauo people were hit extremely hard by the effects of European settlement. There was a very great deal of violence against Aboriginal people in this area (and a good deal of violence against white settlers also). The Waterloo Bay Massacre of 1869 (also known as the Elliston Massacre) occurred close to Elliston,