 Lake Clifton is named for Marshall Clifton, who originally arrived in Western Australia to manage the settlement scheme at Australind, and was later a member of the Legislative Council.Explorers Dr Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston RN first came across what are now Lakes Preston and Clifton while exploring the coastline between Mandurah and Bunbury in 1829.After the introduction of convicts to the Swan River Colony in the 1850s, the "Old Coast Road" south of Mandurah was rebuilt.