Ladismith was established by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1851 on
   a portion of the farm Ylands Valley. The town was surveyed and laid
   out in 1852. After 10 years it was finally declared a town.

   Named after Lady Juana Maria de los Dolores de Leon Smith, Spanish
   wife of the Governor of the Cape, Sir Harry Smith, the original
   "Ladysmith" was changed to Ladismith in 1879. Why? To prevent
   confusion with a similarly named town in Natal, a province on the
   eastern border of South Africa.

    Cornelis Jakob Langenhoven, a legendary Afrikaans writer was born
   in the Hoeko Valley in 1873.