W.V. Awdry

From TrainSpottingWorld, for Rail fans everywhere
Wilbert Vere Awdry
Born June 15, 1911
England Romsey, Hampshire, England
Died March 21, 1997
England Rodborough, Stroud, England

Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, (June 15, 1911 - March 21, 1997), better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author.

He is best known as the author of The Railway Series of books in which the character Thomas the Tank Engine originated.

Biography

Awdry was born in Romsey, Hampshire in 1911. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at Dauntseys School, West Lavington, Wiltshire; St Peter's Hall, Oxford (BA, 1932), and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He was ordained into the Anglican priesthood in 1936. In 1938 he married Margaret Wale, and two years later took a curacy in King's Norton, Birmingham where he lived until 1946. He subsequently moved to Cambridgeshire, serving as Rector of Elsworth with Knapwell, 1946-53, and Vicar of Emneth, 1953-65. He retired from full-time ministry in 1965, and moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire.

The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1942 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. After he wrote 'Three Railway Engines' Christopher wanted a model of Gordon, however that was beyond the scarce wartime resources available. Instead Awdry made a model of a tank engine from odds and ends and painted it blue. Christopher christened the model engine Thomas. Then Christopher requested stories about Thomas and these duly followed and were published in the famous book Thomas the Tank Engine published in 1946.

The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.

Awdry's enthusiasm for railways did not stop at his publications. He was involved in railway preservation, and built model railways which he took to exhibitions around the country.

Awdry's story Henry's Sneeze (in The Railway Series book Henry the Green Engine ) originally described some soot-covered boys as being "as black as niggers". After complaints were made in 1972, twenty years after first publication, the description was changed to "as black as soot".[1]

Awdry wrote other books besides those of The Railway Series, both fiction and non-fiction. The story Belinda the Beetle was about a red Volkswagen Beetle.

Wilbert Awdry was awarded an OBE in the 1996 New Year’s Honours List, but by that time his health had deteriorated and he was unable to travel to London. He died peacefully in Stroud, Gloucestershire on March 21 1997, at the age of 85.

A Class 91 locomotive, 91 124, bears his name.

Publications

Fiction
Non-fiction
  • Our Child Begins to Pray (Edmund Ward, 1951)
  • P J Long & W V Awdry, The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1987.

Biography

A biography entitled The Thomas the Tank Engine Man was written by Brian Sibley and published in 1995.

References

  1. Sibley, Brian (1995). The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. Heinemann, pp272-5. ISBN 0 434 96909 5. 

External links


The world of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
view  talk  edit
Book series: The Railway Series
TV Series: Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
Series particulars
List of Railway Series Books
TV Series Seasons:

1234567891011121314151617
Movie and spin-off releases: Thomas and the Magic RailroadCalling All EnginesOn Site with ThomasThe Great DiscoveryHero of the RailsMisty Island RescueDay of the DieselsBlue Mountain MysteryKing of the Railway

Characters
ThomasEdwardHenryGordonJamesPercyTobyDuckDonald and DouglasEmily
The Fat ControllerBertieTerenceTrevorHarold

The Railway Series: Major CharactersMinor CharactersUnfeatured Characters
TV Series: Major characters Narrow gauge enginesRolling StockNon-rail vehiclesPeople & animals
Movies: Movie-only characters

Locations
Island of Sodor
Railways: North WesternSkarloeyArlesdaleCuldee FellMid SodorSodor & Mainland"Other"

Other locations - The Railway SeriesTV Series

Significant people and organisations
Rev. W.V. Awdry (series creator)Christopher Awdry
The Britt Allcroft CompanyGullane EntertainmentHIT Entertainment
Other relevant pages
Thomas and Friends Portal
The Railway Stories (audiobooks)Thomas and Friends video releasesShining Time Station
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends merchandise
TUGS (redirects to TUGS at Ship Spotting World)
Thomas & Friends fan fiction

Fan Fiction Character Glossary

Fan Fiction Series

Last of the Railroads • The Sodor Engines • Thomas and Friends: The New Life • Thomas and his chums • Thomas the Trackmaster Adventures • Thomas the Wooden Engine

Human Series

Garcia And Friends • Human Thomas and Friends

Merchandise Ideas

Wooden Railway • Trackmaster • Railway Series Books • Thomas Story Time • DVDs • DVD Gift Sets • CDs • Video Games • Take-n-Play • Voice Cast • Episodes • Bachmann • Hornby • Movies/Specials

Stand-Alones

Saving Sodor • The Railway Odysseys • The Scientist • Sodor Academy • If Thomas were...