Wilson, William

William Wilson, The Scotsmen's window (1958), Guildford Cathedral.
Photo: Peter Hildebrand

William Wilson OBE (1905-72) was a Scottish stained glass artist, printmaker and watercolour painter. While working as an apprentice to James Ballantine II he had his eyes opened to the potential of stained glass when he saw Douglas Strachan’s scheme for the National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. He was a fine colourist, a talent that he developed  across more than 300 church windows in Scotland. His career was tragically cut short by blindness in 1962.

Sources:
Images of broken light: William Wilson by Rona H Moody, The Journal of Stained Glass Vol XXX, 2006, pages 140-150
Scotland’s Stained Glass Making the Colours Sing by Michael Donnelly (Historic Scotland, 1977)
William Wilson on Wikipedia