Raikes, Robert (1735-1811), an English publisher, first developed Sunday schools on an extensive scale. Many children in his home city, Gloucester, worked six long days in the factories and had no chance for education. He opened his first Sunday school there in 1780. Sunday schools helped train children in reading and arithmetic as well as in the Bible, because there were no public schools. Before Raikes died, his system had spread throughout England. Raikes was born on Sept. 14, 1735. He died on April 5, 1811.
