Talk:Wilbert Awdry

Claimed to be in Birmingham till 1965
According to Crockford's clerical directory: It is unlikely that he would have lived in Birmingham while incumbent of parishes in Ely. Can someone better informed please have a look at this? Ringbark 20:50, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Curate, King's Norton, Birmingham 1940 to 1946
 * Incumbent, Elsworth, Diocese of Ely, 1946 to 1953
 * Incumbent, Emneth, Diocese of Ely, 1953 to 1965


 * I suspect this was created from the text of "Biography at the Official Awdry Family Website", which mentions his 'starting' at King's Norton in 1940, and the fact that Awdry retired from being a vicar in 1965: there is no information on his life between the two dates. However, the article for Sodor location Elsbridge states that "The name comes from the village of Elsworth, where Awdry lived at the time.", although this is not obviously mentioned in the books that I have. EdJogg 02:01, 22 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I am originally from Market Lavington, near where he went to school, and there was a story I'd heard when growing up about how he was the vicar of Great Cheverell, a nearby village, during the war but had to leave as his pacifism displeased the locals. This would fit in with what it says on the Wikipedia article for his son - who appears to have been born in Devizes (near Market Lavington) in 1940 but went to Kings Norton at age 5 months. This whole pacifism episode might be something worth putting into the article. Milvinder (talk) 01:08, 12 December 2007 (UTC)


 * There's an awful lot of material from The Thomas the Tank Engine Man to go in...it will take time!
 * As for confirmation of his postings as a curate/vicar, read the Obituary from the Independent (see External Links), since that contains the relevant information also.
 * EdJogg (talk) 00:48, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Mention in Hansard!
Just bumped into this Hansard document while researching something else. There must be a way of incorporating it as it certainly boosts Awdry's notability rating!

The whole is a very long document spread over many pages, but the part in question is from a debate on "Passenger Services under Rail Privatisation" (note the date, 07/07/1995) starting at column 201 (here).

The reference to Awdry is later, on this page, at column 229:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199495/cmhansrd/1995-02-07/Debate-13.html

EdJogg 08:29, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

How did he die?
I heard WV Awdry died from osteoporosis. Is this true? -- S.C.Ruffey fan  17:30, 23 December 2007 (UTC)


 * According to the Independent's obit. he certainly suffered from osteoporosis, but I think he must have just died from 'old age'.
 * EdJogg (talk) 01:11, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Chauvinism?
I removed this unsourced claim:

The stories have been charged with the fault of male chauvinism as engines are always male and carriages female.

It was added anonymously ; the existence of Daisy the diesel and Scruffy the truck seem to disprove it at first glance. Tlesher (talk) 18:16, 1 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for finding that. It is interesting to see that it was me who that put the 'fact' tag there in the first place.
 * I have left this in place until now, as I'm sure there is a grain of truth in this statement -- not that Awdry was chauvinistic, but that this particular criticism has been levelled at the books... Unfortunately I have no references to prove it or otherwise.
 * EdJogg (talk) 23:55, 1 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Reference material starts on page 309 of The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, and includes the names of two other publications which started the ball rolling. Whether it should be here or on the TtTE page remains to be seen...
 * EdJogg (talk) 00:26, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Reference sources

 * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241203/Why-grumpy-vicar-created-Thomas-The-Tank-Engine-ended-HATING-him.html (as already used in article) is a very sympathetic piece that contains many other facts that are of use to this and other related articles.

-- EdJogg (talk) 14:03, 26 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Hmmm - personally I wouldn't consider the Daily Wail to be the most reliable and unbiased source out there - most of the facts in the article can found in Thomas the Tank Engine Man (which is probably where the article's author got them from). There's at least one blatant error I spotted immediately - Four Little Engines was not the one set on the mountain railway. —  Tivedshambo   (t/c) 16:34, 26 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Agreed, Sibley's book is the ultimate source, but it does no harm to have an additional reference, especially one which discusses the public reaction etc to the books and TV series. Also, this goes beyond the end of that book. Maybe 'facts' is not the right word, perhaps 'opinions' would have been better? -- EdJogg (talk) 00:34, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I see that I'm not the only one with this opinion of this paper - . —  Tivedshambo   (t/c) 14:24, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

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