David Brown

Sir David Brown (1904 to 1993) was an English industrialist who ran the family gear and machine tool business David Brown Limited, which his grandfather had founded in Huddersfield. He started as an apprentice in 1921, became a director in 1929 and managing director in 1933, and under his leadership the firm expanded into steel casting, military gearboxes and, from 1939, its own David Brown tractors after he parted company with Harry Ferguson. In 1947 he bought Aston Martin for 20,500 pounds and then the Lagonda business with its twin-cam engine designed by W. O. Bentley, and the DB series of cars carries his initials. He acquired the coachbuilder Tickford in 1955, and in 1963 the David Brown Corporation took a controlling interest in the shipbuilder Vosper, which merged into Vosper Thornycroft. Forced to sell the tractor and car divisions in 1972, he sold his remaining shares in 1990. He was knighted in 1968 and died in Monte Carlo in 1993.