ALBRIGHTON, Shropshire, England — David J.C. Austin, the chairman who transformed his family’s specialized rose nursery into an internationally recognized horticultural powerhouse over more than three decades, has died at his home in Shropshire. He was 67.
His family announced that Austin had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and incurable neurological condition that causes rapid brain deterioration. 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, 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. He rose to managing director and later chairman, steering the company through substantial expansion while preserving the core mission: breeding fragrant, garden-worthy roses that bloom repeatedly.
Under his leadership, the nursery evolved from a regional supplier into a globally recognized name in horticulture, exporting English Roses to gardeners, florists, and landscapers worldwide. He was widely credited with protecting his father’s founding philosophy — that a rose should combine the beauty and fragrance of old garden varieties with the reliable repeat flowering of modern hybrids — 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 called him 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. “Words cannot express how much we will miss him. We couldn’t be more proud of him.”
They also thanked those who cared for him during his illness.
Tributes From the Horticultural World
News of Austin’s death prompted tributes across British horticulture. The Royal Horticultural Society expressed deep sadness. Monty Don, presenter of BBC Gardeners’ World, said Austin leaves behind a legacy of millions of exquisite roses that “will 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 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 will continue under its experienced leadership team, working closely with the next generation of the Austin family. The company reaffirmed its commitment to partners and rose lovers worldwide, signaling continuity after losing both its founder and the son who built it into a global brand.
David J.C. 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. But with a third generation of Austins — Richard, James, and Olivia — already connected to the business, the family’s stewardship of the English Rose appears set to endure, even as the company enters a new era without the two men most responsible for its growth.