The Village of Slang Rivier was founded early in 1885, and in April 1894 its name was changed to Elliot, after Sir Henry Elliot, a prominent Colonial administrator and Chief Magistrate of Transkie, which is just 1 of the Homelands in South Africa. Thembuland is a natural Region of the Eastern Cape.
The 1904 Census indicated that Elliot had a population of: 902 people. Of these people most are Xhosa.