ALBRIGHTON, Shropshire — David J.C. Austin, the chairman who transformed his family’s specialized English nursery into one of the world’s most recognizable rose brands over three decades, died July 22 at his home in Shropshire. He was 67.
His family announced that he had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and incurable neurological condition that causes rapidly progressive brain damage. The company confirmed he died surrounded by family, less than eight years after the December 2018 death of his father, company founder David C.H. Austin.
Carrying Forward a Family Vision
Born in 1958, Austin joined the family business in Albrighton in 1990, working directly alongside his father at a time when the elder Austin’s pioneering work breeding English Roses was gaining international recognition. Over the following three decades, he served as managing director and later chairman, guiding the company through significant expansion while maintaining the breeding of fragrant, garden-worthy roses as the business’s core mission.
Under his leadership, David Austin Roses grew from a regional nursery into a globally recognized horticultural name, exporting its English Roses to gardeners, florists and landscapers worldwide. He was widely credited with preserving his father’s founding philosophy — that a rose should combine the beauty and fragrance of old garden roses with the repeat-flowering reliability of modern varieties — even as the company scaled internationally.
A Family’s Tribute
In a statement released by the company, Austin’s children — Richard, James and Olivia — remembered their father first as a gardener at heart. “That was at the heart of who he was,” they said, describing a man who carried his own father’s vision forward “with humility and an unwavering sense of responsibility,” always placing the roses, the family business and its employees ahead of himself.
The family described him as kind and modest, with a playful spirit and a genuine enjoyment of life. They said he faced his illness with the same courage and dignity he brought to everything else. “Above all, he was our Dad,” they said, “and words cannot express how much we will miss him. We couldn’t be more proud of him.”
The family also thanked those who cared for him and supported them during his illness.
Tributes From the Horticultural World
News of Austin’s death drew tributes across British horticulture. The Royal Horticultural Society said it was deeply saddened by the news. BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don also paid tribute, saying Austin left behind a legacy of millions of exquisite roses that would live on.
Hundreds of gardeners and rose enthusiasts posted messages of condolence on the company’s social media accounts, many recalling personal encounters with Austin at flower shows or crediting the roses he helped bring to market with transforming their gardens.
The Company Moving Forward
David Austin Roses said it would continue operating under its experienced leadership team, working closely with the next generation of the Austin family. The company reaffirmed its commitment to its partners and to rose lovers worldwide, signaling continuity for a business that has now passed through the loss of both its founder and the son who expanded it into a global brand.
Austin’s death closes a long chapter of direct family leadership at a company built on his father’s decades-long pursuit of the perfect rose. Yet with a third generation of Austins — his children Richard, James and Olivia — already connected to the business, the family’s stewardship of the English Rose looks set to continue, even as it enters a new phase without either of the two men most responsible for building it.