What is Wilbert Awdry?
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]] | name = Wilbert Awdry | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] | image =Rev W Awdry and Peter Sam - 1988-05-14 (cropped).jpg | caption = Awdry in 1988 | birth_name = Wilbert Vere Awdry | birth_date = {{birth date|1911|6|15|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Ampfield]], [[Hampshire]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|1997|3|21|1911|6|15|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Rodborough]], [[Gloucestershire]], England | occupation = Anglican cleric, railway enthusiast, author | education = [[Dauntsey's School]] | alma_mater = [[St Peter's College, Oxford|St Peter's Hall, Oxford]] <br>[[Wycliffe Hall, Oxford]] | years_active = 1945–1997 | spouse = {{marriage|Margaret Wale|1938|1989|reason=her death}} | children = 3, including [[Christopher Awdry]] | notableworks = ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' }} The Reverend '''Wilbert Vere Awdry''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (15 June 1911<ref>Belinda Copson, ‘Awdry, Wilbert Vere (1911–1997)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/65705, accessed 17 Aug 2010]</ref> &ndash; 21 March 1997), was an [[English people|English]] [[clergy|cleric]], [[railfan|railway enthusiast]], and [[children's author]]. Simply known as the '''Reverend W. Awdry''', he was the creator of [[Thomas the Tank Engine]], the central figure in his acclaimed ''[[The Railway Series|Railway Series]]''. ==Life and death== Awdry was born on 15 June 1911 in [[Ampfield]], [[Hampshire]]. He was raised in [[Box, Wiltshire|Box]], [[Wiltshire]]. Awdry was educated at Marlborough House School, Sussex (1919–24), [[Dauntseys School]], [[West Lavington, Wiltshire]] (1924–9); [[St Peter's Hall, Oxford]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], 1932), and [[Wycliffe Hall, Oxford]]. He was married to Margaret Awdry from 1938 until her death in 1989. They had three