Extracts from: A PIONEER MOTHER :
My Life History ,by Susan Helena Norval aged 79 years. Wife of James Norval of Norvalspont.
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.”
After establishing positions in and around Colesberg, Grobler’s men moved out into the Colesberg district, cutting telegraph lines and blowing up strategic railway bridges as they advanced. Schoeman left about 700 men posted in Colesberg itself. He then began a similar series of movements in the direction of Noupoort and Philipstown, not far from the main railway line to the North. Rensburg, south of Colesberg, became Boer headquarters with defensive positions set up in the kopjes around it. From here these positions extended northwards to connect with positions along the southeast spur of the Colesberg kopjes. 800 Transvaalers and one large gun held a position west of the railway line. The east side of the railway line was well defended by 2,000 Free State burghers, with 2 long-range guns well protected by stone breast-works on the crests of the kopjes. Positions on the Boer right extended from the kopjes around Arundel to Kuilfontein and Vaalkop to the north west of Rensburg.
When the news of all this activity reached Susan Norval at Norval's Pont, she set off in a little spring wagon loaded with an assortment of farm produce and headed for the farm, Acacia, west of Colesberg to rescue her daughters, Ann and Agnes, who had taken refuge there. On the way she called in at the farm of Alex Robertson who tried to persuade her to return but she would have none of it and set off again.
She was stopped several times along the way but managed to talk her way through: “As far as the eye could see were Boers, nothing but Boers. Every crag, every rock and stone disappeared from view, hidden by this vast concourse of men.”
She recognised several of the men; one was her own nephew, whom she addressed sternly by name. “You know me?” was his query. “I do. I am your father's sister. You will live to regret your foolhardy action." Mrs Norval wrote later that she found out that he, “had been forced to join the Boers or suffer the ignominy of being shot as a traitor.” This statement is repeated after the British takeover, by many men who fought on the Boer side. On her way through Colesberg Mrs Norval had to get permits for her family to return to Norval's Pont.
While walking through town she was greeted by Dominee Scholtz, who invited her in for a chat. “I met his advances coldly. It is hard in these days to know who is really one’s friend. I told him, I had my doubts of him for I had learned during my walk, that he had invited the Boers into town.”
She then left Colesberg and headed for Acacia where, “An army of Boers armed to the teeth sprang up around us; how many were there I am unable to state exactly but I should be not far wrong if I hazard thousands.” This did not worry Mrs. Norval, she simply greeted them politely, told them where she was going and they let her pass. “A similar happening occurred on three occasions”, before she reached Acacia. On her return she was again stopped several times.
On one occasion, just outside Colesberg, she asked the men how they were doing. "They boasted that not a hair of their heads was missing, let alone any of their men." When she reached Norval's Pont she found her husband had been taken prisoner leaving her with her two daughters and two small sons to cope alone.
Norval's Pont Bridge was blown up on 7th March 1900 by Boer forces as they retreated from Colesberg towards Bloemfontein .
Susan's account describes how she was sitting with her children in the living room of her home at Norval's Pont, when they heard, “A sound like a terrific gun-fire or the discharge of a mighty cannon.”
They rushed out of the house and climbed a nearby hill to get a view of the Orange River : “A dark cloud of smoke obscured everything for miles around. Suddenly it cleared and then,
“Dear God, the appalling sight! The Bridge, torn from its support, lay shattered and broken in the River, like some mighty giant ousted in a great battle.”