founded Ladysmith about 1898, a year after he built shipping wharves for loading coal at Oyster Harbour from the mine at Extension, nearer Nanaimo. Dunsmuir, owner of coal mines in the Nanaimo area, needed a location to house the families of his miners. He chose to build the community at what was then known as Oyster Harbour, some 20 miles south of his Extension mines. Many buildings were moved from Extension and Wellington by rail and by oxen. In 1900, Dunsmuir renamed the town in honour of the British lifting the siege of Ladysmith in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The Town of Ladysmith was incorporated June 3, 1904. Dunsmuir thought this would be a fitting tribute at the conclusion of the Boer War. 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 British military personnel including: Field Marshall Lord Roberts, General John French, General Redvers Buller, General Sir Charles Warren, General Sir George White, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Lieutenant-General Sir William Forbes Gatacre, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, Major General Lord Methuen, and Sir William Penn Symonds. The local high school yearbook was at one time called Spion Kop, in commemoration of the Battle of Spion Kop, a famous engagement in January 1900 in which the Boers defeated British troops during the Second Boer War. Ladysmith experienced significant unrest and violence during the Vancouver Island coal miners' strike of 1912–1914. The miners were striking because of a variety of long-standing safety concerns. During the strike, militia were dispatched to put down unrest and protect property. The Seaforth Highlanders first saw active service in the summer of 1912 when rallies by striking coal miners in the area around Nanaimo led to rioting. A company from the Seaforths was sent to garrison the area and maintain the peace. Peace was eventually restored and maintained until the unit was called back to 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.
Media
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 circulated in the communities of Ladysmith and Chemainus, in central Vancouver Island. It is archived online in the Google news archive.
Pamela Anderson, a Canadian-American actress, model and animal rights activist, was born and lived in Ladysmith until the age of 12. She returned to live permenantly in Ladysmith July 2019.
Stef Lang, a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. Lang grew up and attended Ladysmith Secondary School.
