Ladysmith, British Columbia from Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith, known as Lady Smith, the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, the British Governor of the Cape Colony and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852.) The Town of Ladysmith was incorporated June 3, 1904. Dunsmuir thought this would be a fitting tribute at the conclusion of the Boer War (which ended in 1902). In addition to commemorating the end of the war by naming his town after Ladysmith, Dunsmuir also chose to name the streets of the community after generals who fought victoriously in the Boer War. Included
Ladysmith, British Columbia mobilize for war in August 1914. In 2017 Ladysmith's historic First Avenue was named the best street in Canada by the Canadian Institute of Planners. The "Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle", a weekly community paper on Vancouver Island with a circulation of 1,898, has been printed locally and was founded in 1908. It is published every Wednesday. It is circulated in the communities of Ladysmith and Chemainus, in central Vancouver Island. It is archived online in the Google news archive. Ladysmith Secondary School is the only secondary school in Ladysmith. The area has three elementary schools: Ladysmith Primary School (Kindergarten to Grade 3),