About Us

Mrs Violet Mary Eveson and
The Eveson Trust


Violet Eveson’s Family and Life

Violet was born in Bishops Frome, Herefordshire on 4th August 1905, the daughter of Wilfred Williams Woodward and Mary Fanny Woodward; she was their only child. Mrs Woodward’s father was William Farmer Pudge and she too was an only child. It is said that in the late 1880’s, William Farmer Pudge was the publican at the local Chase Inn in Bishops Frome. However, he was soon to become one of the county’s most important landowners. He bought many farms in Herefordshire and Worcestershire and with his skill as a hop farmer he became an immensely wealthy man by the time he died in 1938. It was in the days of hand picking and thousands arrived from the Black Country and Wales to harvest the hops. It had been reported that he owned the largest hop growing area in England and possibly the world.

As a result of his successful and profitable farming activities, Farmer Pudge was involved in the formation of a finance house in which he had a substantial shareholding. Following the death of her grandfather and her mother in 1952, Violet inherited this shareholding which contributed to her wealth and this was augmented by shrewd investment.

In 1927 Violet married Norman P. Pitt and her grandfather, as a wedding present, built her a large house with a lodge and several acres of gardens and paddocks in Stourton, near Stourbridge in the West Midlands. The marriage ended in divorce after 4 years and in 1934 she married Robert Emmett Eveson, a Midlands industrialist. She met Robert through their joint interest in horses. In her youth, Violet had been a keen horsewoman and she and Robert owned several racehorses. Following a happy marriage, Robert died in 1977. Violet continued to live in the house in Stourton until shortly before her death.

After Robert’s death, Violet’s life-style was modest and she did not enjoy good health, suffering from cancer and arthritis. Aged 87, she died on 25th May 1993 of heart failure following a fall. There were no children.

Violet is buried with the rest of her family at St. Mary’s Church, Bishops Frome.

Lifetime Charitable Giving

Violet was a very private person and most of her life-time gifts were anonymous. Three major gifts were:

  • £750,000 to reopen a cancer ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
  • £750,000 to RNLI for the purchase of a lifeboat. This was based in Moelfre, Anglesey and under her Will. The executors were instructed to advise RNLI that she was the source of the anonymous donation for this lifeboat named “Robert and Violet”.
  • £440,000 (including gift aid reclaim) to Hereford Health Authority for the Herefordshire Scanner Appeal.

The Will

Violet’s executors who proved the Will were Bruce Maughfling, her Accountant, and David Pearson, whose wife Jillian was a relation of Violet.

After various legacies the residue of the Estate was bequeathed to a Charitable Trust (The Eveson Charitable Trust), the terms of which are set out in the Will. Probate was granted in the second half of 1993 and The Eveson Charitable Trust was registered with the Charity Commission on 26th January 1994.

Under the terms of the Will, “the trustees shall hold the capital and the income of the Charitable Trust Fund upon Trust to apply the income and all such part or parts of the capital for or towards such charitable purposes and to make donations to such charitable institutions whose activities are confined to or primarily undertaken in the United Kingdom for the support or relief of the physically handicapped (including the blind and deaf), the mentally handicapped, hospitals, hospices, children in need whether disadvantaged or physically or mentally handicapped, the elderly, the homeless, and for medical research into problems associated with any of the foregoing at such times and in such manner as the trustees may in their absolute discretion think fit”.

The residue of the Estate amounted to nearly £49,000,000, and at the time probate was granted this was considered to be the largest ever charitable bequest in Great Britain. The legacies referred to above included specific ones to various charities and a discretionary legacy of £250,000 for the “purchase of surgical equipment and aids for the benefits of such children’s charities as the executors select”.

In view of the size of the charitable bequests, there was media attention at the time of probate with the executors having to cope with television interviews and telephone calls from national and local newspapers.

There is reference above to Violet’s family involvement in a finance company. The shareholding in this company was retained by Violet throughout her life-time and after several take-overs, the value of the investment at the date of her death represented over half of the value of the whole estate.

Many of the hop farms were sold during Violet’s lifetime and land and property only represented a small proportion of her estate.

This history of the Trust was recorded by David Pearson, whose wife was related to Violet Eveson. David was one of the first trustees of the Trust.

The Eveson Trust

In April 2022, the trust converted to the status of a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) and became The Eveson Trust, registered charity number 1196672.

In view of Violet’s links with Herefordshire through hop farming, and the West Midlands where she lived throughout her married life, it has been the policy of the trustees to make grants to charities for the benefit of residents in these areas. To date, the total grants awarded by the trustees to charitable institutions amount to over £71m and the value of the fund has increased from £49m to around £100m.

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