Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997), credited as simply "the Rev. W. Awdry", was an English children's author, railway enthusiast, and cleric best known for writing The Railway Series.
The son of an Anglican vicar, Awdry would see and hear the engines of the Great Western Railway from his childhood home in Wiltshire, imagining them having personalities and conversations. He served most of his early life as a minister, but that would change in 1942 when his 2-year-old son Christopher came down with measles and needed cheering up. Awdry created stories about engines named Edward, Gordon, and Henry, and later constructed a toy tank engine who became known as "Thomas". At the encouragement of his wife Margaret, Awdry published those stories as The Three Railway Engines in 1945, followed by Thomas the Tank Engine in 1946. The stories proved popular with children, with Thomas becoming their Breakout Character.
Awdry continued writing The Railway Series and expanding the Island of Sodor based on real-life railway incidents he'd witnessed and heard of. Notably, he based the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway off of the real Talyllyn Railway in Wales, which he'd volunteered as a guard for, and the stories helped the railway be preserved. He retired in 1972 after writing Tramway Engines, and a now-grown Christopher Awdry took over the series until it ended in 2011.
Despite its success, Awdry became reluctant to let The Railway Series be adapted for television after BBC's failed live performance of "The Sad Story of Henry" in 1953—which Awdry called "a matter of almost National concern". He relented when Britt Allcroft approached him, and Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends premiered in 1984 to global success. Even then, though, Awdry expressed open disdain for Allcroft and her crew making original stories and taking artistic liberties—with the series becoming entirely original after his death.
Works:
- The Railway Series (1945-1972; illustrated by William Middleton, Reginald Payne, C. Reginald Dalby, John T. Kenney, Peter & Gunvor Edwards)
- Thomas' Christmas Partynote (1984; illustrated by Clive Spong)
- The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (1987; co-written with George Awdry; illustrated by Clive Spong)
- Belinda The Beetle (1958; illustrated by Ionicus)
- Belinda Beats the Band (1961; illustrated by John T. Kenney)
Trivia:
- Creator Backlash: His least favourite of his own books was James the Red Engine, which he'd been rushed to make by the publishers.
- He Also Did: Awdry published Our Child Begins to Pray in 1951, a guide to parenting and a wild departure from his railway stories.
- Shown Their Work: As someone who grew up alongside railways at an young age, he harnessed a deep passion and knowledge of railways over the years, which is shown expertly in The Railway Series, which, outside of the talking engines, portrays the North Western Railway as closely to a real life working railway as possible.
