The British garrison of Port Elizabeth saw the arrival of 500 settlers in 1825, which included Francis McClelland, who was appointed the same year Colonial Chaplain.

It was also laid the foundation stone of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary the Virgin, who only would be opened for worship in 1832.

The diocese registered a coat of arms at the Bureau of Heraldry in 1977 : Argent, on a cross Gules, between in dexter chief an anchor, in sinister chief a cross moline, in dexter base a clay pot and in sinister base a triangle Sable voided of the field, a lamb couchant proper, the shield ensigned with a mitre proper.

Bishop Bethlehem Nopece attended the GAFCON meetings in 2008, 2013 and 2018, and was the founder and is the current chairman of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans of South Africa.

[3] The Synod of the diocese, held in November 2017, passed unanimously a motion that stated that any future nominee for local bishop must affirm the Jerusalem Declaration, issued at the Global Anglican Future Conference, in Jerusalem, in June 2008.