The son of Henry Raikes (1811-1863) of Llwynegrin Hall, Mold, Flintshire, and Lucy Charlotte (Wrangham) Raikes (1811-1889). His grandfather was the Rev. Henry Raikes, the Chancellor of the Diocese of Chester.
Henry Cecil Raikes was an English politician, the Chairman of Ways and Means between 1874 and 1880, and the Postmaster General from 1886 to 1891. He served as Member of Parliament from Chester, Preston and Cambridge University.
Raikes graduated in 1860 from Trinity College, Cambridge, with a degree in Classics, M.A. in 1863. He married Charlotte Blanche Trevor-Roper of nearby Plas Teg at St. Cynfarch's Parish Church, Hope on Sept. 26, 1861. The couple had nine children. Their residence in later life was Llwynegrin Hall (now the Flintshire County Register Office), just outside Mold.
