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
Cyril Raikes finally Sidmouth both in Devon until his death 16 January 1963. He had two daughters Iris Mary Raikes (born 1 March 1909, died 9 June 1995, living on Exmoor) and Daphne Veronica Raikes, a physiotherapist (born 29 January 1911, and lucidly living to 101 in Beccles, Suffolk, she died 16 October 2012), both without issue. Cyril Raikes Cyril Probyn Napier Raikes was awarded the Military Cross in the World War I Mesopotamian Campaign flying in the British army's Royal Engineers monitoring the oil pipelines there. He had previously fought in the Boer War. Cyril Raikes was born 12 November 1875