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The movement began in July, 1780, when Mrs. Meredith conducted a school in her home on Souty Alley. Only boys attended, and she heard the lessons of the older boys who coached the younger. Raikes wrote four of the textbooks, but the Bible was the core of the Sunday School. Later, girls were allowed to attend. Raikes shouldered most of the financial burden in those early years. Within two years, several schools opened in and around Gloucester. On November 3, 1783, Raikes published an account of Sunday School in the columns of his paper. Excitement spread. Next, publicity was given the Sunday School in Gentlemen’s Magazine, and a year later Raikes wrote a letter to the Armenian Magazine. Raikes died in 1811. By 1831, Sunday School in Great Britain was ministering weekly to 1,250,000 children, approximately 25 percent of the population. Children: Most of the local children attended Sunday school at Thornham Methodist Chapel. A Char-a-banc took them for an outing by the sea. All children of school age attended East Worlington School, with all the Drayford Children going home for their midday meal, (there were no school meals in those days, and no school buses either). The headmaster was Mr Edmonds, whilst Mr Bulled was in charge of the infants. Mr Edmonds was also the organist at Thornham Chapel as well as being the Sunday School Superintendent. Sunday was a day of rest. |
To learn more about Sunday Schools visit the following websites Methodist Heritage – Sunday School Sunday School Wikipedia Robert Raikes Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement Robert Raikes Evolution of Sunday Schools 1751 to present Church of England The Victorian School – Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement YouTube – Robert Raikes
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