Statue of Robert Raikes, London 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 as anything of the kind we possess in England". In 1958 it was designated a Grade II-listed building. The front of the plinth reads: . An inscription below the figure's right foot
Robert Raikes (1765–1837) Wilkinson of Welton House. They lived in Essex until 1805 after which moving to Welton House, Welton, East Riding of Yorkshire. In Yorkshire William established a bank in Kingston upon Hull. Robert Raikes built a beautiful Georgian mausoleum, "Raikes Mausoleum" for himself and his family in 1818; his father had also constructed a mausoleum in London. He and Anne Williamson had two sons Thomas (b.1790) and Robert (b. 1801), and two daughters Martha (d.1797) and Anne-Louisa. His grandson through his son Thomas established a Tractarian church at Treberfydd. He died in 1837. The mausoleum was built in 1818 for Robert