Memorial to John Whitaker he opened a free Sunday School in Pickford Street, which accommodated about 40 children. In doing this he was inspired by Robert Raikes who had initiated the Sunday School movement, and by David Simpson, a local Anglican priest who had earlier provided schools for poor children in the town. Unlike most Sunday Schools, Whitaker's school was non-denominational. In 1814 he followed this by opening a much larger purpose-built Sunday School in Roe Street. The school was financed by public subscription and by the children paying a small weekly fee. Whitaker died in 1820, but the school continued to flourish, and
Henry Raikes and one of the earliest British politicians to have had their voice recorded. George Edward Gouraud recorded him on behalf of Thomas Edison on the evening of 5 October 1888. . Henry Raikes Vicar Henry Raikes (1782–1854) was Chancellor of the diocese of Chester. He was the son of Thomas Raikes, a London banker and merchant, and Charlotte Finch, daughter of Henry Finch, Earl of Winchelsea. One of his three brothers was Thomas Raikes (the younger) (1777-1848), a London banker and merchant who later became a famous diarist and a dandy traveller on the Continent (mostly in France). One of