Robert Hawker out and seek the distressed members of Christ’s body. It was not limited by parish boundaries or denomination but the needs of Christians were met where they were found. One of his earliest passions, whilst still a curate, was to start a Sunday school. The Sunday School movement may have been started when in 1780 Robert Raikes in Gloucester opened the first Sunday School. Children at that time had to work six days a week, leaving little time to study after work in the week. To counter the effects of ignorance and illiteracy the Sunday school movement started. Literacy was
Harriet Raikes Harriet Raikes Harriet Raikes was the daughter of Thomas Raikes the Younger, a merchant and banker in London, and the granddaughter of Thomas Raikes the Elder, also merchant and banker in London and Governor of the Bank of England from 1797 to 1799. Her father became a famous dandy traveller in Europe, meeting the highest celebrities of his times and he was also a diarist. In 1861 Harriet edited her father's correspondence with the 2nd Duke of Wellington. She was also the author of "The Marriage Contract" (London: Richard Bentley, 1849, 2 vols), which is the first recorded murder mystery