Christina Gascoigne Biography – Christina Gascoigne Wiki
Christina Gascoigne born Christina (née Ditchburn) is a former photographer and ceramicist and the wife of Bamber Gascoigne who was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on University Challenge, which initially ran from 1962 to 1987.
Bamber was unexpectedly left a 16th-century stately home, West Horsley Place – once owned by Henry VIII – near Guildford, Surrey, by his great-aunt Mary Innes-Ker, the Duchess of Roxburgh, who died aged 99 in 2014. The house, with its 50 rooms and 380 acres of grounds, was in a dilapidated condition, as she had lived alone for many years and had not been able to maintain the building. “Every time there was a new drip, she thought: get a new bucket,” he said in 2018.
Instead of selling the property, as the duchess had imagined he would, Gascoigne and his wife, Christina, decided it should be renovated and turned into a community arts center. The £10m cost of repairs was largely met by selling much of the contents, including paintings by Edward Burne-Jones and Lord Leighton’s famous Flaming June, at Sotheby’s. A 700-seat opera house was built by Grange Park Opera on the grounds and the house itself is intended to be used for conferences, classes, and for filming.
“We both felt it was a bit feeble not to give it a shot,” he explained. “A place that for several centuries has been entirely private, somewhere people did not even really know was there, can look forward to many centuries of people enjoying it. I think that’s a wonderful thing.” The duchess’s ashes are buried under the orchestra pit.
Bamber and his wife, Christina, set up the West Horsley Place Trust to restore and maintain the property. Gascoigne’s contribution to television was extended indirectly when his residence was used to film TV shows, including Ghosts and Enola Holmes.
Christina Gascoigne Age
Christina’s age is unknown. Her late husband was born on January 24, 1935, in London, United Kingdom, and died on February 8, 2022. He was 87 years.
Christina Gascoigne Husband
Until February 8, 2022, she had been married to her late husband Bamber Gascoigne for 57 years. Christina (née Ditchburn), is the daughter of civil servant Alfred Henry Ditchburn, CBE. The couple married in 1965 after meeting at Cambridge. They lived in Richmond, London, from the late 1960s. Following a short illness, her husband Bamber died in Richmond on February 8, 2022, less than a month after his 87th birthday. She survives him.
Christina Gascoigne Children
The couple kept their lives private. They did not share details of whether they had children or not.
Christina Gascoigne Parents
She is the daughter of former civil servant Alfred Henry Ditchburn, CBE.
