Bamber Gascoigne
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Bamber Gascoigne FRSL |
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Gascoigne in 2006
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| Born |
Arthur Bamber Gascoigne 24 January 1935 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education |
Sunningdale School Eton College Magdalene College, Cambridge Yale University |
| Occupation | television presenter historian author |
| Known for | Presenting University Challenge |
| Spouse(s) | Christina Gascoigne (née Ditchburn) |
| Website |
HistoryWorld Timesearch |
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.
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. He is a nephew of Sir Julian Gascoigne who was in charge of the Household Division during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
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), 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 (also in Berkshire), 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.
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