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.
Geoffrey Raikes Geoffrey Raikes Major-General Sir Geoffrey Taunton Raikes CB DSO (7 April 1884 – 1975) was a British Army General who achieved high office in the 1930s. Educated at Radley College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Raikes was commissioned into the South Wales Borderers in 1903. He was seconded to the Egyptian Army from 1913 to 1915. He served in World War I and in April 1918 found himself as Commanding Officer (CO) of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers at Armentières where the battalion suffered heavy losses. After the War he became an Instructor at the Senior Officers School