Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage near Romsey, Hampshire in 1911. Awdry's father was the Rev Vere Awdry, the vicar of Ampfield, and his mother was Lucy Awdry, née Bury. His younger brother, George, was born in 1916. All three of Awdry's older half-siblings from his father's first marriage died young. In 1917 the family moved to Box, in Wiltshire, moving again in 1919, and 1920, still in Box, the third house being Journey's End (renamed from Lorne Villa), which remained the family home until August 1928.