Bamber Gascoigne

For the 18th-century British politicians, see Bamber Gascoyne (disambiguation).

Bamber Gascoigne CBE FRSL
Gascoigne in 2006
Born	Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (1935-01-24)24 January 1935 London, England
Died	Richmond, London, England
Education	Sunningdale School Eton College
Alma mater	Magdalene College, Cambridge Yale University
Occupation	Television presenter, historian, author
Known for	Original quizmaster of University Challenge
Spouse(s)	Christina Ditchburn (m. 1965)
Website	HistoryWorld Timesearch

Arthur Bamber Gascoigne CBE, FRSL (24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022) was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on University Challenge, which initially ran from 1962 to 1987.

Early life and education

Gascoigne was born in London on 24 January 1935. He was the elder son of Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne (himself the son of Brigadier-General Sir Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne and Laura Cicely, daughter of General Edward Henry Clive, of that family of Styche Hall, Shropshire, from which also came the famous soldier and administrator of India Robert Clive) by his marriage in 1934 to Mary ("Midi") Louisa Hermione O'Neill, a daughter of Captain the Hon. Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill and Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes.

His great-grandfathers included Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, and Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill. He was a nephew of Sir Julian Gascoigne, who was in charge of the Household Division during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and of Terence O'Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1963–1969.

He was a direct descendant of the 18th century Lord Mayor of London Sir Crisp Gascoyne and the Tory politicians Bamber Gascoyne (the elder) and Isaac Gascoyne. Isaac's son General Ernest Frederick Gascoyne, of Raby Hall, Liverpool (1796–1867), was his great-great-great-grandfather.

Gascoigne was born in London and educated at Sunningdale School in Berkshire before winning scholarships to both Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge (1955), where he read English literature. While at Magdalene he wrote a musical, Share My Lettuce, which was produced in London in 1957 by Michael Codron, and performed by Maggie Smith and Kenneth Williams (with music by Keith Statham and Patrick Gowers). He then spent a year as a Commonwealth Fund scholar at Yale University (1958–59). After National Service in the Grenadier Guards, he became a theatre critic. He met his wife, Christina, at Cambridge, and they married in 1965.

University Challenge

Gascoigne was the original presenter (from 1962) of the television quiz show University Challenge, based on the US series College Bowl. He held the position for 25 years, until the end of the initial run in 1987. As well as presenting the show, in its initial series he also set all the questions. His questioning manner was regarded as firm yet polite. Phrases he often used which became catchphrases include: "Your starter for ten, no conferring", "fingers on buzzers” and "I'll have to hurry you." In 1984 he was famously parodied by Griff Rhys-Jones on the alternative comedy series The Young Ones, in an episode entitled "Bambi". Ironically, cast member Adrian Edmondson later appeared on the real University Challenge. In turn, Gascoigne presented the parody Universe Challenge in 1998, based on the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf.

Television and books

Gascoigne was the author of Murgatreud's Empire, a 1972 satirical novel concerning an entrepreneur who finds an island of pygmies, and trades them arms for treasure, recreating the development of European medieval weaponry and armour.

In 1977, Gascoigne wrote and presented The Christians, a 13-hour television documentary series on the history of Christianity, produced by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV. The same year he wrote a companion book, under the same title, with photography by his wife, Christina Gascoigne, published by Jonathan Cape. In 2003 it was revised and republished as A Brief History of Christianity by Robinson Publishing.

Gascoigne wrote Quest for the Golden Hare, a 1983 account of the internationally publicised treasure hunt associated with the publication in 1979 of Kit Williams' book Masquerade. On 8 August 1979, Gascoigne was witness to the burial by Williams of a unique jewelled, solid gold hare pendant in an earthenware jar "somewhere in Britain". The book documents the search and a scandal associated with finding it.

In 1987, Gascoigne presented a documentary series of six 30-minute programmes on Victorian history, Victorian Values, produced by Granada Television. The programmes looked at how Victorian society put in place the infrastructure of the modern welfare state.

In 1988, Gascoigne devised and presented a BBC2 arts quiz called Connoisseur, for which he also set the questions.

Gascoigne was the writer and presenter for the TV series The Great Moghuls (1990), a study of the Mughal Empire of India. The series was based on Gascoigne's 1971 book of the same name, which features photographs by his wife.

Other activities

Gascoigne established an online history encyclopaedia, HistoryWorld, and TimeSearch which presents multiple searchable timelines collected from various websites.

In August 2014, Gascoigne was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.

On the death of his great-aunt Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, in 2014, he inherited an estate at West Horsley, Surrey, including West Horsley Place, a large country house dating from the 16th century. Gascoigne sold some of the late Duchess's possessions in order to invest in restoring the house, which was followed by the building of an opera house in its grounds, the Theatre in the Woods, which serves as the home base of the Grange Park Opera.. An original pencil and chalk study for the well-known painting Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton was found on the back of a bedroom door in the house. Art historians had known a sketch existed as it had been included in an art magazine in 1895, but did not know who owned it; it was probably bought by the Duchess's paternal grandfather after Leighton's death.

Since 2019, West Horsley Place has been used as the filming location for the fictional Button House, in the BBC TV comedy series Ghosts.

Gascoigne was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to the Arts.

External interests

Gascoigne was elected in 1976 as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was a trustee of the National Gallery, a trustee of the Tate Gallery, a member of the council of the National Trust, and a member of the board of directors of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He was also a patron of the Museum of Richmond.

Personal life and death

Gascoigne was married, for 55 years, to Christina (née Ditchburn), daughter of civil servant Alfred Henry Ditchburn, CBE whom he met at Cambridge. They lived in Richmond, London, from the late 1960s. He died in Richmond on 8 February 2022, after a short illness, less than a month after his 87th birthday.

Stephen Fry led the tributes to Gascoigne, saying he was "such an elegant, intelligent man". Victoria Coren Mitchell, host of BBC quiz show Only Connect, said: "No quiz host has ever seemed more like they could answer all the questions themselves."

Selected publications

• 1962: Twentieth Century Drama, London: Hutchinson University Library ISBN 978-0-0906-5843-5
• 1968: World Theatre: An Illustrated History, Ebury Press ISBN 978-0316305006
• 1971: The Great Moghuls (with photographs by Christina Gascoigne), London: Jonathan Cape; New York: Harper & Row
• 1973: The Treasures and Dynasties of China (with photographs by Christina Gascoigne and Derrick Witty), Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-224-00925-7 Republished 2003 as A Brief History of the Dynasties of China ISBN 1-84119-791-2
• 1973: The Heyday (novel), Jonathan Cape ISBN 978-0224009058
• 1974: Ticker Khan: A Fable, Jonathan Cape ISBN 978-022-401061-0
• 1975: Castles of Great Britain (introduction; with Christina Gascoigne), Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-500-24098-1
• 1977: The Christians (with photographs by Christina Gascoigne), London: Jonathan Cape; New York: William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-03220-6 Revised and republished 2003 as A Brief History of Christianity, Robinson Publishing ISBN 1-84119-710-6
• 1981: Why the Rope Went Tight (children's stories, with pictures by Christina Gascoigne), London: Methuen; New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books ISBN 978-0688005900
• 1982: Fearless Freddy's Sunken Treasure (children's stories, with pictures by Christina Gascoigne), London: Methuen ISBN 0-416-06510-4
• 1982: Fearless Freddy's Magic Wish (children's stories, with pictures by Christina Gascoigne), London: Methuen ISBN 978-0-416-06520-6
• 1983: Quest for the Golden Hare, Jonathan Cape ISBN 0-224-02116-8
• 1986: Cod Streuth, Jonathan Cape ISBN 0-224-02388-8
• 1986: How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Inkjet, Thames & Hudson; revised 2nd edition 2004 ISBN 0-500-28480-6
• 1988: (with J Wright): Bamber Gascoigne's Book of Amazing Facts, London: Walker Books ISBN 0-7445-1082-1; ISBN 978-0-7445-1082-9
• 1993: Encyclopaedia of Britain: The A–Z of Britain's Past and Present, Macmillan Publishers ISBN 0-333-54764-0
• 1997: Milestones in Colour Printing 1457–1859: With a Bibliography of Nelson Prints (The Sandars Lectures in Bibliography), Cambridge University Press ISBN 978-0-521-55441-1
• 1998: A Brief History of the Great Moghuls: India's Most Flamboyant Rulers, Running Press ISBN 0-7867-1040-3
• 2007: Bamber Gascoigne's Challenging Quiz Book, London: Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-103470-6
• 2010: A Brief History of the Second World War, HistoryWorld ISBN 1-908143-00-2
• 2011: A Brief History of the First World War, HistoryWorld ISBN 1-908143-03-7, ISBN 1-908143-03-7
• 2011: The Maya, Aztecs, Incas and Conquistadors: A Brief History, HistoryWorld ISBN 978-1-908143-06-8
• 2014: The Dynasties of China, The Folio Society

External links

• HistoryWorld website
• Timesearch website
• Gascoigne at the Magdalene College alumni website
• Bamber Gascoigne at the Internet Movie Database

Media offices
New creation	University Challenge host 1962 – 1987	Succeeded by Jeremy Paxman