The Thin Clergyman (RWS)

The Railway Series

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This article is about the fictional character. You may be looking for the real person.

The Thin Clergyman
Background Information
First Appearance	Troublesome Engines (1950) (retconned) Duck and the Diesel Engine (1958)
Last Appearance	Duke the Lost Engine (1970)
Creator(s)	Rev. W. Awdry
Character Overview
Name	Wilbert Vere Awdry
Nickname(s)	The Thin Clergyman
Gender	Male
Country of Origin	England
Affiliation	The Fat Clergyman
Biographical Background
Born	15 June 1911
Died	21 March 1997
Occupation	Anglican clergyman Railway enthusiast Children's author Railway publicity manager

Wilbert Vere Awdry, better known as The Thin Clergyman, was an English Anglican clergyman, railway enthusiast, and children's author.

He is a fictionalised version of Wilbert Awdry, the author of The Railway Series.

Biography

The Thin Clergyman and his friend, the Fat Clergyman, once went to the Arlesdale Railway to take photographs of the engines for his upcoming book, Small Railway Engines. One of the engines, Bert, liked the clergymen at first but became uncomfortable when they continued squinting into their cameras without saying hello to him. The clergymen hopped back into their car and raced through a puddle, splashing Bert in the face with muddy water. Although the clergymen had meant no harm, Bert was still cross with them and managed to pay the Fat Clergyman out by splashing him with water from the overhead trees, though he got in trouble for this. The clergymen went to apologise to Bert and cleaned him up, telling him that they would feature him and the other small engines in a book. In 1967, Small Railway Engines was published.

In 1969, the Thin Clergyman had heard the story of Duke from the Small Controller, and he, the Fat Clergyman and the Small Controller made plans to recover Duke and send him to the Skarloey Railway to be restored. Every morning they went on Bert's train and searched through the hills of Arlesdale, but they did not find anything. Their search finally ended when the Fat Clergyman fell through the roof of the buried engine shed and landed on top of Duke, who had been sleeping the whole time.

In 1997, the Thin Clergyman passed away. In 2011, to celebrate his 100th birthday, Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III made plans to unveil a bust made in his likeness at Tidmouth station. Although plans for the celebration were nearly delayed due to the collapse of Henry's Tunnel, the problem was soon rectified, and the party went ahead, with Prince Charles even attending to unveil the bust.

Personality

Though not much is known about the Thin Clergyman, he is shown to be a kind and caring man who loved engines and writing books on them, as well as organising some railway shows of his layout for the children.

Appearances

• The Railway Series

The Railway Series Troublesome Engines - Percy Runs Away (cameo) Duck and the Diesel Engine - Domeless Engines (cameo) Small Railway Engines - Tit for Tat Duke the Lost Engine - Sleeping Beauty Great Little Engines - Sir Handel Comes Home (mentioned) Jock the New Engine - We Need Another Engine (mentioned) Thomas and his Friends - Centenary (mentioned) Companion volumes 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines (does not speak) 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Trivia

• When the Thin and Fat Clergymen visited the Arlesdale Railway, they drove a maroon car with the number plate "O40 BMC".
• He was briefly the publicity manager for the North Western Railway.

References

United Kingdom

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