ALBRIGHTON, Shropshire — David J.C. Austin, the chairman who transformed his family’s specialist rose nursery into one of the world’s most recognized horticultural brands, died July 22 at his home in Shropshire. He was 67.
The company announced that Austin had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and incurable neurological condition that causes rapidly progressive brain damage. He died surrounded by his family, less than eight years after the passing of his father and company founder, David C.H. Austin, in December 2018.
Carrying Forward a Family Vision
Born in 1958, David J.C. Austin joined the family business in Albrighton in 1990, working directly alongside his father as the elder Austin’s pioneering work breeding English Roses gained international recognition. Over the next three decades, he served first as managing director and later as chairman, guiding the company through significant global expansion while preserving the core mission of breeding fragrant, garden-worthy roses.
Under his leadership, David Austin Roses grew from a regional nursery into a globally known name in horticulture, exporting its English Roses to gardeners, florists, and landscapers worldwide. Industry observers credited him with protecting his father’s founding philosophy — that a rose should combine the beauty and fragrance of old garden varieties with the repeat-flowering reliability of modern hybrids — 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, adding that 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 thanked those who cared for him and supported them during his illness.
Tributes From the Horticultural World
News of Austin’s death drew tributes from across British horticulture. The Royal Horticultural Society expressed deep sadness at the news. BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don paid tribute, saying Austin left behind a legacy of millions of exquisite roses that would live on, and offered condolences to the family.
Hundreds of gardeners and rose enthusiasts posted messages of condolence on the company’s social media accounts in the days following the announcement. Many recalled personal encounters with Austin at flower shows, while others credited the roses he helped bring to market with transforming their own 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 around the world, signaling continuity for a business that has now endured 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.