Robert Raikes of the population. As these schools preceded the first state funding of schools for the general public, they are seen as the forerunners of the current English school system. Robert Raikes Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Pre-dating state schooling and by 1831 schooling 1,250,000 children, they are seen as the first precursor schools of the English state school system. Raikes was born at Ladybellegate House, Gloucester, in 1736, the eldest child of Mary Drew and Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher.
Thomas Raikes (cricketer) another tale says that the matter was settled by the toss of a coin. Two of Raikes' relatives played first-class cricket: his father Ernest Raikes played in India for Europeans and Bombay, while his uncle George Raikes played for Oxford and Hampshire and made four appearances for the England football team. Thomas Raikes (cricketer) Thomas Barkley Raikes (16 December 1902 – 2 March 1984), often known as Tom, was an Indian-born English cricketer who played 38 first-class games for Oxford University in the 1920s. He also played minor counties cricket for Norfolk. He was educated at Winchester College, and in