Raikes

raks, Robert (1735-1811), the founder of Sunday schools. His father, of the same name, was proprietor of the Gloucester Journal. Robert inherited the paper and continued the enterprise for forty years. In 1780 he became interested with friends in the question of Biblical instruction for children, the outcome being the establishment of the first Sunday school. Some account of the school given in the Journal attracted attention in London and brought him into prominence. He lived to see many hundreds of Sunday schools established.