David Brown

Brown was born in Park Cottage in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, to Caroline and Frank Brown in 1904. Park Cottage was demolished in the Second World War to make way for a new factory, on their 17-acre Park Works site.

Brown attended King James's School in Almondbury and Rossall School in Lancashire.

In 1926, against the wishes of his parents, who refused to attend the wedding, Brown married Daisy Muriel Firth, whom he had known since he was 14. They had two children, David and Angela, both of whom entered the family business. Angela married George Abecassis, the racing driver. Following his divorce from Daisy, Brown married his secretary, Marjorie Deans, in 1955. This marriage also ended in divorce. He subsequently married his personal assistant, Paula Benton Stone, in 1980.

Brown played polo at Ham Polo Club in the summer and during the winter he spent most weekends hunting; he was joint Master of the South Oxford hounds. He also bred hunters and racehorses on his 700 acres (280 hectares) farm in Buckinghamshire. His greatest success was his horse Linwell winning the 1957 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Brown was a qualified pilot, had his own De Havilland Dove, which was normally flown by his personal pilot, and he also established his own airfield at Crosland Moor.

He was a member of the board of governors of the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the council of Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce and Lloyd's.

He was knighted in 1968 for services to industry.