Eldest surviving son of the solicitor, John Awdry (1766–1844), and Jane, née Bigg-Wither (1770–1845), sister of Herbert Hill’s wife, Catherine. Awdry was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with a First in 1816. He was elected a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, at the same time as Hartley Coleridge in April 1819. He later qualified as a barrister, was knighted in 1830 and rose to the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bombay 1839–1842. Southey first met Awdry in 1817 when he stayed at the Awdry family’s Swiss holiday home on his continental tour.