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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 14 August 2008

Elspeth Iliff

Violin teacher leaves £2m house to National Trust

THE National Trust are set to receive a multi-million-pound windfall thanks to the generosity of a Dartmouth Park violin teacher.
Elspeth Iliff, who passed away in 2006, has left her five-storey Victorian home to the Trust. The house could be worth as much as £2million, while she has left her large collection of instruments to three charities – the Benslow Musical Instrument Loan Scheme, the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments and the European String Teachers Association.
Mrs Iliff, who was 76, died after an operation at University College Hospital went wrong. She had no children and had been divorced from her husband since the 1960s. Originally from Switzerland, her nearest relatives were cousins and a nephew who lives abroad.
Mrs Iliff had moved to London after the Second World War to work as an au pair and improve her English. Her path into teaching music was helped by a chance meeting on a bus. On her way to a violin lesson, another woman got on the same bus as she did and was also carrying a violin case. Her name was Kay Hurwitz, the wife of renowned musician Emanuel Hurwitz. They took her in as an au pair and encouraged her to work as a teacher.
“She was a keen gardener and loved walking round Trust properties,” said friend Sarah Dawes.
Neighbours have suggested that Mrs Iliff’s memory could best be honoured by using the house as a base for music lessons and to provide accommodation for music students – as well as offering private tuition, she taught at the Royal College of Music.
However, a National Trust spokeswoman revealed that the Trust had looked at the property and had been advised to sell it. “We are delighted that Mrs Iliff has remembered us in her will,” the spokesman added. “Bequests like this are very important to us.”

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