Prior to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the suburb lay on land on one of the original farms called Doornfontein.[2] Before becoming a suburb, the area was mining land with the Heriot Mine opening in 1887.[2] After the gold was exhausted in the mine, the land was proclaimed as a suburb in October 1946.[2] The mine is said to have been named after the Scottish goldsmith George Heriot, the "Jingling Geordie" in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Fortunes of Nigel. Some experts, however, claim the mine was instead named after the village of Heriot in Midlothian, Scotland. This village was founded in 1164 as Herth, but its name was changed in 1198 to Hereget (from the Old Englishhere-geat, meaning a break in a hillside through which troops could march.
Sources
Stals, Prof. Dr. E.L.P (ed.). 1978. Afrikaners in die Goudstad, vol. 1: 1886 - 1924. Cape Town/Pretoria: HAUM.
^ abcRaper, Peter E.; Moller, Lucie A.; du Plessis, Theodorus L. (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 1412. ISBN9781868425501.
