£3m left by Austin matriarch

A sculptress and wife of famous West Midland rose breeder David Austin left almost £3 million in her will, it was revealed today.

Pat Austin from Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, died on December 21 last year and left her estate to relatives, details of which have now been revealed. The 72-year-old was instrumental in helping her husband set up the award-winning David Austin Roses company.

The firm employs 100 people and is considered one of the world's greatest contemporary rose breeders.

Her estate was valued at £2,964,068 before tax and probate was granted to her husband, her son Jim who lives in East Yorkshire and the family solicitor Nigel Wood.

The family declined to comment today. The mother-of-three and grandmother-of-eight died at her home in Bowling Green Lane.

At her funeral at St Mary Magdalene Church, Albrighton, last year Jim Austin said his mother would be missed by all who knew her.

He said: "She was incredibly supportive to her husband and family and put her sculpting second to us all. She was very much loved. She was a great talker and also had a real ability to listen, which is why I think she knew so many people."

He also described his mother as an avid reader and gardener who was a "staunch supporter of the countryside".

Mrs Austin, who had been suffering from heart problems, was a stone sculptress and painter. Her artistic work includes the statue outside Albrighton Medical Centre.

She and husband David, 83, set up their rose-breeding business in 1969.

The devoted couple were also known for opening the gates to their private garden on a number of occasions.

Mrs Austin was born in Wolverhampton in January 1935 and was educated at Wolverhampton High School. She married David in 1956. Her father Leonard Braithwaite ran a book-binding business.

David Austin Roses have been awarded 14 gold medals for displays of roses at The Chelsea Flower Show. Gertrude Jekyll was voted the nation's favourite rose by BBC Gardener's World viewers in 2006.