ALBRIGHTON, Shropshire — David J.C. Austin, the chairman who guided David Austin Roses from a specialist family nursery into one of the world’s most recognized horticulture brands, died July 22 at his Shropshire home at age 67. His family announced he had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and incurable neurological condition that causes rapid brain deterioration.
The company confirmed Austin 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 1990, working alongside his father during a period when the elder Austin’s pioneering work breeding English Roses was gaining international acclaim. Over the following three decades, he served as managing director and later chairman, steering the company through significant global expansion while maintaining the core mission: breeding fragrant, garden-worthy roses.
Under his leadership, David Austin Roses grew from a regional nursery into a globally recognized name in horticulture, exporting its English Roses to gardeners, florists, and landscapers worldwide. Industry observers credited him with safeguarding his father’s founding philosophy — that a rose should blend 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 company statement, Austin’s children — Richard, James, and Olivia — remembered their father first as a gardener.
“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 prioritizing the roses, the family business, and its employees above himself.
The family characterized him as kind, modest, and playful, with a genuine enjoyment of life, and said he faced his illness with the same courage and dignity he brought to all endeavors. “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.”
They also thanked those who cared for him during his illness.
Tributes From the Horticultural World
Austin’s death drew tributes across British horticulture. The Royal Horticultural Society expressed deep sadness over the news. BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don also paid tribute, stating that Austin left behind a legacy of millions of exquisite roses that would endure, and offered condolences to the family.
Hundreds of gardeners and rose enthusiasts posted messages on the company’s social media accounts following the announcement, 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 announced 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 partners and rose lovers worldwide, signaling continuity for a business that has now weathered the loss of 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 founded 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 appears poised to continue as the company enters a new era without the two men most responsible for its creation.