Statue of Robert Raikes, London reads: In 1929 replicas of the statue were cast for erection the following year in Gloucester and Toronto, for the 150th anniversary the following year of opening of the first Sunday school. Statue of Robert Raikes, London A statue of Robert Raikes, often regarded as being the founder of Sunday schools, executed by the sculptor Thomas Brock, stands in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, United Kingdom. It was unveiled by the Earl of Shaftesbury on 3 July 1880 and marked the centenary of the opening of the first Sunday school. The critic Edmund Gosse considered the statue to be "as good
Robert Napier Raikes and bade him farewell." " Raikes was promoted to colonel in 1866, lieutenant general in 1881 and general in 1889. He was reputed to have shot a hundred tigers. He returned to England in 1870 and later retired to Watford and Malvern. He died aged 95 on 23 March 1909. Raikes was awarded medals for the Gwalior campaign in 1843, the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852/3 and the Indian Rebellion. Raikes married Harriet Beckett in 1854; they had three infant daughters who died in Agra during the Indian Rebellion. Additionally, they had two daughters and four sons. Their daughters were: