Bamber Gascoigne

Arthur Bamber Gascoigne FRSL (born 24 January 1935) is a British television presenter and author, best known for being the original quizmaster on University Challenge.^[2]

Family background and early life

Gascoigne is the elder son of Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne (himself the son of Brigadier-General Sir Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne) by his marriage in 1934 to Mary Louisa Hermione O'Neill, a daughter of Captain the Hon. Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill and Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes.

His great-grandfathers include Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, and Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill.^[3] He is a nephew of Sir Julian Gascoigne who was in charge of the Household Division during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.^[4]

He is 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 (1796–1867),^[1] was his great-great-great-grandfather.^[1]

Gascoigne was born in London and educated at Sunningdale School in Berkshire before winning scholarships to both Eton College (also in Berkshire), and Magdalene College, Cambridge (1955), where he read English literature.^[5] 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).^[2][6] 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.^[5]

University Challenge

Gascoigne came to national fame as the original presenter (from 1962) of the popular television quiz show University Challenge,^[2] based on the US series College Bowl. He held the position for 25 years, until the end of the initial run in 1987. Although he has written several books, mostly works of history, and presented other television programmes, his name is permanently connected with University Challenge for many viewers.^[7] His questioning manner was firm yet polite.^[8] Phrases he often used which became catchphrases include: "Your starter for ten", "fingers on the buzzers", and "I'll have to hurry you".^[9]

Television and books

Gascoigne is the author of Murgatroyd'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,^[10] a 13-hour television documentary series on the history of Christianity, produced by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV. He wrote a companion book, under the same title, with photography by his wife, Christina Gascoigne, published by Jonathan Cape.

He 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, which looked at how Victorian society put in place the infrastructure of the modern welfare state, also produced by Granada Television.^[11]

He was the writer and presenter for the TV series The Great Moghuls (1990), a study of the Mughal Empire of India.^[12] The series was based on Gascoigne's 1971 book of the same name, which features photographs by his wife.^[12]

Current activities

Gascoigne has established an online history encyclopaedia, HistoryWorld,^[13] and TimeSearch^[14] which presents multiple searchable timelines collected from various websites.^[15]

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.^[16]

On the death of his great-aunt Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe in 2014,^[17] he inherited an estate at West Horsley, Surrey, including West Horsley Place, a large country house dating from the 16th century.^[18][19] Gascoigne has been selling some of the late Duchess's possessions in order to invest in restoring the house.^[20] An original pencil and chalk study for the well known painting Flaming June by the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Sir Frederic Leighton, was found on the back of a bedroom door. 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 after Leighton's death.^[21]

External interests

Gascoigne is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (elected 1976).^[22] He has served as a trustee of the National Gallery, a trustee of the Tate Gallery, a member of the council of the National Trust, and as a member of the board of directors of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.^[7] He is a patron of the Museum of Richmond.^[23]

Personal life

Gascoigne and his wife Christina (née Ditchburn),^[1] who met at Cambridge, lived in Richmond, London from the late 1960s.^[10] In 2014 Gascoigne inherited West Horsley Place from his aunt and godmother Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe.^[24]

Selected publications

• 1962: Twentieth Century Drama, London: Hutchinson University Library ISBN 978-0-0906-5843-5^[25]
• 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^[12]
• 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
• 1977: The Christians (with photographs by Christina Gascoigne), Jonathan Cape. Revised and republished 2003 as A Brief History of Christianity, Robinson Publishing ISBN 1-84119-710-6^[26]
• 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^[27]
• 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^[28]
• 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

In popular culture

• In the early 1970s, comedian Billy Connolly poked fun at Gascoigne's unusual name in his song "Talkin' Blues (What's in a Name)".
• In 1974, while impersonating David Attenborough in the last Monty Python television episode, Michael Palin sought out the legendary "Walking tree of Dahomey", but instead happened upon "one of Africa's many stationary trees, Arborus Bamber Gascoignus".^[29] His name also appears in one version of the Monty Python "Lumberjack Song" when Michael Palin sings of the "Quercus maximus Bamber Gascoigneii", and in the Python song "I Like Traffic Lights" the singer, Terry Jones, points out that his name is not Bamber.
• In the "Bambi" episode of the TV series The Young Ones (1984), centred on a spoof University Challenge match, Gascoigne – referred to as "Bambi" – is played by Griff Rhys Jones.Griff Rhys Jones also played Gascoigne a few years previously in a sketch on Not the Nine O'Clock News.
• In 1998, as part of BBC Two's Red Dwarf night, he presented a special Red Dwarf edition of Universe Challenge between the cast and fans of the show. The show began with actor Chris Barrie impersonating host Jeremy Paxman, before being blown up as Gascoigne entered with a mock space-shotgun to much applause. (The fans won by a narrow margin.)
• In 2004, Gascoigne appeared as a television presenter in an episode of Jonathan Creek, "Gorgon's Wood".^[30]
• In the 2006 film, Starter for 10 (set in 1985, and featuring a University Challenge match), Gascoigne is played by Mark Gatiss.^[31]
• For several years, the satirical magazine Private Eye had a motoring column written by Bamber Gasket.^[32]

References

External links

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