Sunday school Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian, which caters to children and other young people who would be working on weekdays. Sunday schools were first set up in the 1780s in England to provide education to working children. William King (see memorial in Dursley Tabernacle Church) first started a Sunday school in Dursley, Gloucestershire, and suggested to his friend Robert Raikes, that he start a similar school in Gloucester, which resulted in Raikes generally being quoted as starting the schools. Raikes was editor of the Gloucester Journal. He wrote an article in his
Robert Raikes the Elder Raikes and Dicey divided their partnership, Dicey retaining the Northampton press, and Raikes taking sole ownership of the "Gloucester Journal" press (now moved to premises in Southgate Street) and associated printing business. Raikes' business thrived, despite a change in newspaper duties in 1725, and a number of brushes with the law over articles published under his authority. In 1743, the "Gloucester Journal" was moved for a second time into larger premises in the Blackfriars area of Gloucester. Robert Raikes died at Gloucester, where he was buried in the church of St Mary de Crypt. Raikes was married three times: Two