Robert Raikes (1735-1811) is remembered as a pioneer of Sunday Schools. He was not however the first person to set up a Sunday School, but rather his work pioneered Sunday Schools as a national institution in England.

Like George Whitefield, Raikes was a citizen of Gloucester. Younger than the famous preacher, he was born at the time that Whitefield’s ministry was beginning to attract attention and grew up in a city which had experienced the blessings of revival. His father was a prominent citizen and businessman, owner of the Gloucester Journal which passed into Robert’s hands in 1757. Sensitive to the needs which surrounded him, he began to use his paper to alert his fellow citizens. His first assault on the public conscience seems to have been when he became aware of the pitiful conditions of some of the prisoners in Gloucester gaol. There was no proper provision for poorer inmates. Those who received no help from friends or relatives had to beg their food from their fellow prisoners. To help these he made an appeal in his paper.

Children running wild

He became aware of the needs of those children whose parents could not provide schooling for them. In 1780 he was dismayed at the sight of children running wild around the city on Sundays and began to consider the possibility of a School. As early as 1769 Hannah Ball, who had been converted under the preaching of John Wesley, had set up a Sunday School in High Wycombe. There was also a Sunday School run by Thomas King a Dissenter in nearby Dursley. Raikes was a churchman and wanted his School to be closely linked to the parish church. He therefore consulted Thomas Stock a local curate who had been involved in a school in Berkshire. Stock seems to have drawn up the plans and Raikes provided the money. In July 1780 a Sunday School was established in the parish of St Mary de Crypt in Gloucester. There were to be two sessions every Sunday and four women were paid to teach children to read and to learn the Prayer Book Catechism. Raikes became actively involved. He visited the children in their homes, examined their progress in reading and gave prizes for good progress.

Soon the work was described in an anonymous article in the Gloucester Journal and interest spread rapidly. In 1788 his work received national publicity when his article was reprinted in The Gentleman’s Magazine, a popular journal of the day. The country which had been profoundly affected by the Evangelical Revival was ready for such measures. Within seven years it was estimated that nearly a quarter of a million children were being taught in Sunday Schools. This was almost three percent of the population. The children aimed at in the scheme were those whose parents could not afford day schooling or children already in employment and so at work during the week.

‘Nurseries for Christians’

Clearly there was a vast field to be reached. It was also apparent that the need was so great that it could not be addressed unless volunteer teachers were prepared to give their time. While Raikes wanted to provide basic Christian teaching, the first challenge was that of teaching children to read. In 1784 John Wesley noted in his Journal ‘I find these schools springing up wherever I go. Perhaps God may have some deeper end therein than men are aware of. Who knows but some of them may become nurseries for Christians?’ He was sufficiently interested in Raikes’s efforts to give the movement further publicity by reprinting Raikes’s original report in the Arminian Magazine. His interest undoubtedly helped to stimulate interest among his followers.

A London Baptist was instrumental in the spread of Sunday Schools. William Fox was a draper in Cheapside and a member of the Particular Baptist Church in Prescot Street under the pastorate of Abraham Booth. In 1785 with a group of his friends he established the ‘Society for the Establishment and Support of Sunday Schools’. For some years he had been considering ways of providing for free education for the poor, but came to the conclusion that it would be too big an undertaking. He then heard of Raikes’s endeavours in Gloucester and corresponded with him, benefiting from his practical experience. Sunday Schools seemed to be the way forward and so with the help of Christian friends in the City of London he promoted his plans. He was able to unite Churchmen and Dissenters in a society which eventually became the Sunday School Union. Fox encouraged every church to establish a Sunday School and within a short space of time hundreds of Sunday Schools came into existence.

It was a few years before his own church responded to his proposal. This may have been because some years earlier the Prescot Street Church had discussed the establishment of a catechism class, and may have been considered the best way to meet the need. Finally in 1798 the Prescot Street Church set up a Sunday School in Goodman’s Fields. The early records of this school provide a picture of the way in which one Particular Baptist church proceeded. The children who attended this Sunday School were expected to attend services at the Prescot Street Meeting. The school was provided with one hundred spelling books, copies of Watts’s Songs for Children and his Catechism as well as ink and slates. In addition funds were collected to provide clothing for poor children. Later a writing class for boys was added on a Monday evening. Some schools were unsure of the propriety of teaching writing on the Lord’s Day. It may be that the Prescot Street Church shared this reservation and so set up the Monday class.

Reforming zeal

Meanwhile Raikes’s work in Gloucester continued to attract attention. Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, granted him an audience and encouraged others to follow his example. He was continually widening his interests and was involved in the establishment of the Gloucester Infirmary and a new and improved prison. He is an example of the zeal for social reform released in the aftermath of the Great Eighteenth Century Evangelical Awakening. The establishment of Sunday Schools was one small part of the great social changes that were to change the face of society over the next quarter of a century.

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