The Norval Family

The Norvals in South Africa

3 brothers, John, William And Archibald set sail from Leith, Scotland on 14th March 1817 onboard the Brilliant and arriving in Cape Town on 14 June 1817. John Brought with him his son, John (we now refer to them as John (Snr) & John (Jnr)) and his wife Janet Foyar. John (Snr) & Janet left behind 2 daughters, Janet & Jean and another son Henry who had left Glasgow for London in 1816.

These two John Norvals, together with John (Snr's) brothers, Archibald Joseph and William are in effect the start of the Norval family in South Africa.

In total there were some 200 settlers in Moodie’s party aboard three ships, the Brilliant, Garland and Clyde .

All these Norvals were comb-makers but there was no demand for their skills in the Cape at this time. Moodie’s intentions towards those members of his party that he could not use himself was to indenture them to anyone who was interested on arrival at the Cape . However, John Norval (snr) was unable to find anyone to apprentice him and decided to return home to Scotland . But he was prevented from doing so when the ship sailed without him while he was in Wynberg. These Norvals had no alternative but to seek whatever work they could find.

From 1817 until 1828 John Norval (jnr) busied himself in various activities around the Cape . Then he moved to Graaff-Reinet where he opened a hat factory. There he met Mary Jane Murray, the daughter of an 1820 Settler, James L. Murray and his wife Sarah (née Armstrong). John Norval and Mary Jane were married at the end of 1831 at Graaff-Reinet.

After their first child was born in January 1833, John and his wife moved their hat factory to Colesberg where they arrived on 1st January 1834 . This village became famous for the wide-brimmed felt hats that were favoured by the farmers, hunters and traders in particular. Meanwhile John Norval added auctioneering to his skills and practised as a auctioneer at Colesberg.

more coming...


Norvalspont Concentration Camp. (from belinda Gordon) In February 1901 Captain Wynne laid out the Norval's Pont Concentration Camp, about 1,6 km from the station on a slope surrounded by hills.It was a well-laid out camp with rows and streets. Each family was housed in a bell-tent that was numbered. The camp authorities provided each tent with a wooden bed, mattresses, tables etc. The very able and consientious superintendent , Mr Cole-Bowen, who was later replaced by Captain Du Platt Taylor, regretted that he had more people sleeping on the ground than he liked . Read more....

The pont's anchor: One of the original anchors from the Norvalspont ferry is currently at the James Hall Museum of Transport at Wemmerpan in Johannesburg. The anchor was donated to the museum in 1968 by a Mrs J Southey of Kuilsfontein, Colesberg and she attached the follwing note: "An anchor, which was used to moor & control Norval's Pont on the Orange River until the 1890's. In 1841, John Norval, a Scot, launched the first pontoon on the Orange River at the drift on his property, Dapperfontein. The pont was soon swept away and smashed but a succession of remarkable vessels converted the drift into one of the memorable crossings in South Africa"	Facebook.com A group called Norval Family Research has been created on www.facebook.com. There are currently 34 members of the Norval family from all over the world in the group. You do need to be a facebook member to access the site. It is completely free membership.
Extracts from: A PIONEER MOTHER : My Life History ,by Susan Helena Norval aged 79 years. Donated to the Colesberg Museum by Moureen Harbor - great, grandchild of Susan Helena Norval In October 1899 Boer forces began moving towards Norval's Pont. Mrs. Susan Norval, wife of James Norval who ran the pont at Norval's Pont, was taking no chances. She buried stores and other valuables such as linen and even hand-made soap in a huge underground storeroom under the shearing shed on their farm at Norval's Pont . “Great was my delight,” she wrote, “when I viewed the great room after its completion. It was almost vast enough to have sheltered a regiment of soldiers and so well hidden. Why, the Boers themselves often slept in the very shed above the excavation, little dreaming of the immense amount of stores ensconced beneath them. After peace was declared I recovered all my stores and my treasures, little worse for their enforced storage.” After Grobler read his proclamation at Colesberg on the 15th November 1899 declaring Colesberg part of the Orange Free State, several people took advantage of clause 9 (an agreement allowing British citizens to leave the town safely) and set off for Noupoort the next day. Amongst them was the magistrate, Wrensch, as well as Clifford, George and Watkin, the sons of Susan and James Norval of Norval's Pont, who left their home at the Pont on the 19th November 1899 . Susan wrote: “You can imagine the grief we felt at parting from our boys, little knowing whether we would ever meet again.” Read More.....