ALBRIGHTON, England — David J.C. Austin, the chairman who transformed his family’s small nursery into a globally recognized rose brand over three decades, has died at his Shropshire home. He was 67.
The company announced that Austin had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), an incurable neurological condition that causes rapid brain deterioration. 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, David J.C. Austin joined the family business in Albrighton in 1990, working alongside his father as the elder Austin’s pioneering work breeding English Roses gained international acclaim. Over the following three decades, Austin rose from managing director to chairman, steering the company through significant 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 horticulture brand, exporting English Roses to gardeners, florists, and landscapers worldwide. He was widely credited with safeguarding 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 breeds—even as the company scaled internationally.
A Family’s Tribute
In a company statement, Austin’s children—Richard, James, and Olivia—remembered their father 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 genuine enjoyment of life, and 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 expressed deep sadness. Monty Don, presenter of BBC’s Gardeners’ World, 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, many recalling personal encounters with Austin at flower shows or crediting 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. In a statement, the company reaffirmed its commitment to partners and 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—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.