Robert Raikes and seven daughters. Their younger son William Henley Raikes became colonel of the Coldstream Guards, having fought for the British in the Napoleonic Wars. Their oldest son Reverend Robert Napier Raikes had a son General Robert Napier Raikes of the Indian Army. Robert was a pioneer of the Sunday school movement, although he did not start the first Sunday School. Some already existed such as that founded by Hannah Ball in High Wycombe which is the first documented known case. He inherited a publishing business from his father, becoming proprietor of the "Gloucester Journal" in 1757. He then moved the
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