WILLIAM FOX was a prosperous entrepreneur and a visionary. Hailing from Clapton, Gloucestershire, England, he demonstrated a knack for business from a young age. At just ten years old, despite being impoverished and lacking formal education, he resolved to own the manor of Clapton. This was a dream he would eventually realize.

At the age of seventeen, he relocated to Oxford to work for a draper (a cloth manufacturer and seller), and after marrying, he moved to London. In the bustling city, he thrived in the wholesale trade. With a heart for those who were as destitute as he once was, he championed legislation aimed at improving their circumstances.

Simultaneously, he established a school for underprivileged children and provided clothing whenever he could. During that era, there were no tuition-free schools available to educate the lower classes. As a Baptist deacon, Fox devised a plan for day schools to teach the entirety of England’s lower class to read the Bible. However, the enormity of the task deterred others from taking it seriously.

One day, he came across a brief article in the Gloucester Journal that highlighted the Sunday school efforts of Robert Raikes. Inspired, Fox promptly penned a letter to Raikes, outlining a proposal for a Sunday school society to achieve what he had initially envisioned for day schools.

Raikes replied, “I am full of admiration at the great and noble design of the society you speak of forming. If it were possible that my poor abilities could be rendered in any degree useful to you, point out the subject, and you will find me not inactive.”

On this day, 7 September 1785, Fox convened a meeting at 4 PM at Paul’s Head Tavern in London. Several notable philanthropists participated. The outcome was the establishment of the first Sunday School Society in Britain. Its objectives were to “prevent vice; encourage industry and virtue; dispel darkness and ignorance; diffuse the light of knowledge; bring men cheerfully to submit to their stations; obey the laws of God and their country; make that useful part of the community, the country poor, happy; lead them in the pleasant paths of religion here, and endeavor to prepare them for a glorious eternity.”

The Society quickly set up regulations, financed textbooks, allocated funds, and enlisted volunteer educators. It announced its decisions in newspapers in London and distributed a circular newsletter outlining its strategy. Consequently, nearly four thousand Sunday schools were established, providing education to thousands of children who would have otherwise missed out on schooling. Sunday was selected as it was the only day of the week when working children were free.

ALSO ON THIS DAY

1833 – Known as the ‘Powerhouse in a Petticoat’, Hannah More died peacefully.

1901 – The cornerstone was laid for Ida Scudder’s mission hospital in Vellore, India.

1929 – The Lutherans of Betafo-Ambohimanarina, Madagascar, unite in a prayer vigil for a confrontation between pastor Daniel Rajaofera and a local sorcerer that is to take place the next day. As it turned out, the sorcerer failed badly, and many idolaters burned their idols on September 9th.

1964 – Luigi (Louis) Francescon, a pioneer in the Italian Pentecostal movement and an international missionary who participated in the formation of Pentecostal fellowships in Argentina, Brazil, and the US, died in Chicago.