The naming of Ladysmith’s Streets

When Dunsmuir was creating the town of Ladysmith in 1900the British had just relieved the siege of Ladysmith in South Africa. He was so impressed that he decided to name the streets in the new town after heroes and soldiers of the Boer War.

In order to understand who these folk were one almost has to do a total investigation of the entire war itself. The names of the men were so intertwined with battles that they show up almost entirely through the war itself, not just in Ladysmith

The actual siege of Ladysmith took 118 days, ending on February 28, 1900. Most of the time it was an honourable battle, but it was long and bloody. A plum pudding was actually fired by the Boers with a note of season’s greetings at Christmas. However, a cricket match was also shelled by them.

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell is perhaps the most widely remembered of the entire group having gone on to found the world wide Scout movement. During the siege, as a Major-General he gave responsible positions to available boys, which prompted his later founding of the movement. At 43 he became the youngest officer to reach this rank.

His biggest triumph in Africa was the defense of his fortress at the Battle of Mafeking.

In 1910 he retired from the army and shifted his attention to painting and writing. He wrote numerous books on military reconnaissance and scout training. In 1908 he wrote Scouting for Boys, but the official start to the Boy Scout movement was in 1907 when he actually conducted a Boy Scout camp on Brownsea Island, England.

He died in 1941 and is buried in Nyeri , Kenya .

General Sir George White was the Commander in Chief of the entire British Garrison in the siege of Ladysmith. He eventually went on to become the governor of Gibraltar and Field Marshal for the British Forces.

In 1879 he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest medal for gallantry, for his defense with his troops in Afghanistan. As a Major at the battle of Kandahar he led a charge that resulted in the retreat of the enemy.

He died in 1912.

There is a statue of him at Portland Palace, London

General Redvers Buller was the commander who actually broke through the Boer line at theThukela River. His first major skirmish was a total failure and was actually named “Black Week”.His career was virtually shattered and he was soon relieved of his command by Field Marshal Lord Roberts. He did however remain in command in Natal.

His defeat led to his troops referring to him as "Reverse Buller". Despite his being replaced by Roberts he went on to a distinguished career. However, all was not always good for Buller. He returned to England where he was treated as a hero. But politics dogged his life. When the government of the day fell out of power, Buller fell out of favour. At one point he was court marshaled and dismissed with half pay.

A seat was offered to him in his retirement, but perhaps with his political feelings he refused.

An intesting point of history is that before he went to S. Africa he was sent to Manitoba to assist in the Riel Rebellion. He was only a captain in the army then.

He died in 1908 and Redvers, Saskatchewan is named after him.

Field Marshal Lord Roberts was accompanied by Lord Kitchener as his chief of staff. He was recalled to England and Kitchener replaced him in Africa. Roberts was the last Commander in Chief of the British Army until the position was abolished in 1904. He died of pneumonia at St Omer , France while visiting troops fighting in the First World War and is buried in St Paul's Cathedral. Kitchener is best remembered for enlisting the local civilians as guerrilla warriors. He combined these and Robert's strategies to totally remove the support for the Boers. Kitchener, as commander became involved in one of the strangest affairs of the war. A Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant , and some other officers were arrested and convicted of treason and executed. Kitchener signed the death warrants. However, all the documents have since disappeared. The story was made into a book and a movie "Breaker Morant" .

General Sir Charles Warren commanded 15,000 men at the Thukela River. A significant battle leading to the ending of the siege, however ill health forced him to return to England.

He became head of the British Police during the period of "Jack the Ripper". Unfortunately the press at the time was not too kind to him. They accused him of all sorts of incompetent moves. The press accused him of not wanting to offer a reward for information, when in fact it was the British Home Office themselves that refused let him do so.

He was knighted in 1888, As a close friend of Baden-Powell he was instrumental in the founding of the Boy Scout movement. He died of pneumonia in 1927 and was buried in the churchyard at Westbere , Kent ,

Major General Lord Methuen (Baron Methuen) commanded 8000 men at the Battle of Magersfontein in December 1899.

British military techniques did not evolve since the Crimea, so they found themselves face to face with troops and modern weapons. Buller, Methuen, Roberts and Kitchener all made the same military mistake of infantry assaults with disastrous consequences.

Methuen was eventually promoted to the rank of Field Marshal and died in 1919.

Lieutenant - General Sir William Forbes Gatacre was a victim of Black Week. That week was probably the worst week in the entire war. His losses in battle added his name to a large list of leaders whose careers ended with the Boer War.

He was however loved by his men who refereed to him as "General Backacher".

The Boers bought modern Mauser rifles and heavy armaments from the Germans. This and some innovative techniques of warfare often left the British outclassed. The British however, were always armed with "total dedication" which got them through many bloody and near disastrous situations.

General John French is best known for his command of battle in the area of Colesberg. As a cavalry commander he did not seem to be particularly outstanding in the Boer War.

But as a Field Marshal in the First World War he carved out a name for himself. By this time Kitchener was a Lord in the Cabinet. They locked horns over troop deployment. Turned out that Kitchener was right, and French was eventually replaced when Kitchener appeared on the scene as Field Marshal.

It is commendable that Dunsmuir remembered the generals and officers of the Boer War, but in truth, this war and others destroyed the careers of many of them.

However for his career in the battles in Europe he was first made Viscount French of Ypres and later Earl of Ypres .

Sir William Penn Symonds was killed in the battle of Spioenkopin November 1899. Sir George White probably suffered his worst setback at that time. As a close friend of Sir George, his death and the battle itself caused a lot of anguish to White. As a result of his early death not a great deal is known about Symonds.

Lord Strathcona was actually Donald Alexander Smith. In 1900 he offered to raise and equip a Regiment from Canada. Made up mostly of cowboys and frontiersmen of Western Canada and members of the North West Mounted Police (N.W.M.P.). Lord Strathcona's Horse as the regiment was named arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on April 10, 1900 and quickly became essential to the British Army. Even though the original intent was to use them as scouts they were excellent riflemen and were involved in many skirmishes with the Boers.

Smith's career included the Hudson's Bay Company, a successful political career and President of Canadian Pacific Railway. But, these are only a few of his many accomplishments.

Lord Strathcona died on the 21st January, 1914, and was buried beside his wife in Highgate Cemetery, London.

There were 14 streets named in the original survey. The 4 north of Symons were never completed. That leaves 4 heroes of the Boer War that were never remembered in Ladysmith. They were Colonel Otter, Major General Andrew Wauchope, Major General Hector MacDonald and Major General Colville. More on them later...

Following the tradition of the time, avenues were numbered from the water up the hill. 6th Avenue was pretty well the city limit at the time. An Esplanade was common and was always the grandest road in a town. Just about every town of note has an Esplanade Avenue. High Street led to the Market Square.

It will be noted that there were a lot of titled officers in the British Army. At the time it was the custom of a lot of titled folk to buy a commission in the army. One could not have a Lord or Baron fighting in the trenches!

As the town was considerably smaller in those days. A lot of the newer names represent nameworthy folk that lived on the actual streets.

There is a good deal of information on the names above on the internet. There is a very good Chronology to be found at http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Boer/chronology.html . Clicking the link will open a new screen. When done, close the browser to return right back here.

Richard Goodacre has been a noted writer and supporter of Ladysmith history. We have a copy of the inside front page of his book "Dunsmuir's Dream" which shows the old streets and some sketches. To view it click here, when done just close the browser to get back here.

The photographs above are from a scrap book found in the trash by David Walker. A prime example of folk finding important artifacts in the strangest places. As a Historical Society we welcome the donation of any artifact or archive, regardless of what its importance may seem to be.