Laurence Whistler

In 1975, he became the first President of the newly founded British Guild of Glass Engravers.

Whistler's many honours included an OBE in the 1955 New Years Honours List and a CBE in the 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours List. In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours List, not long before his death at the age of 88, he was created a Knight Bachelor.

In 1947, Whistler created one of the wedding gifts for Princess Elizabeth, a glass goblet engraved with the words of a 1613 poem by Thomas Campion, written for the marriage of Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James I.

In 1939, Whistler married the actress Jill Furse. Their son, Simon (1940–2005) was a musician and also a notable glass engraver. Jill died in 1944, of blood poisoning, soon after giving birth to a daughter Caroline; Laurence's brother, Rex Whistler, died the same year. In 1950, he married Jill's younger sister, Theresa (1927–2007), and they had two children Daniel and Frances; the marriage was later dissolved. In 1987, he married a third time to Carol Dawson, but was divorced in 1991. For much of his life he lived at Little Place, Silver Street, Lyme Regis, Dorset.

In 1935, Whistler became the first recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry. Verse works of his included 'The Emperor Heart' ; 'Four Walls'; 'Armed October and other Poems'; and 'In Time of Suspense', in 1940, published by William Heinemann. He also wrote a biography, 'Sir John Vanbrugh, Architect and Dramatist'. However, he began engraving to supplement his income, and later largely turned away from verse.

Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler CBE (21 January 1912 – 19 December 2000) was a British glass engraver and poet. He was both the first President of the British Guild of Glass Engravers and the first recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.