Editing Bamber Gascoigne (section)

==Other activities==
Gascoigne established an online history encyclopaedia, ''[[HistoryWorld]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=History and Timelines |url=http://www.historyworld.net/ |work=[[HistoryWorld]] |access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> based on British history. He had already published a hard copy of this encyclopaedia, but he saw the internet as an opportunity to reach millions more people than would see the book.<ref name="Times"/> He also established ''TimeSearch'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.timesearch.info/timesearch/ |url-status=dead |website=TimeSearch History |access-date=16 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129063803/http://timesearch.info/timesearch/ |archive-date=29 November 2018}}</ref> which presents multiple searchable timelines collected from various websites.<ref>''[[Start the Week]]'', [[BBC Radio 4]], 12 March 2007</ref>

Gascoigne was a lifelong supporter of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] and subsequently the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. He publicly endorsed the latter during their [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]] campaign.<ref>{{cite news |last=Meadowcroft |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Meadowcroft |title=Letters: Bamber Gascoigne obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/feb/20/letters-bamber-gascoigne-obituary |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=20 February 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Lindsay |first=Caron |title=Bamber Gascoigne: This is the essential moment to support Lib Dems |url=https://www.libdemvoice.org/bamber-gascoigne-this-is-the-essential-moment-to-support-the-lib-dems-60864.html |website=Liberal Democrat Voice |date=21 May 2019 |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref> 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 [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on that issue]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |work=The Guardian |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>

On the death of his great-aunt [[Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe]], in 2014,<ref name="Obituary notice">{{cite web |url=http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/179054/roxburghe |title=Roxburghe |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |department=Announcements: deaths |date=July 2014 |access-date=16 September 2016 |archive-date=16 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116092356/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/179054/roxburghe |url-status=dead}}</ref> Gascoigne inherited an estate at [[West Horsley]], [[Surrey]], including [[West Horsley Place]], a large [[English country house|country house]] dating from the 16th century.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe&nbsp;– obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10956833/Mary-Duchess-of-Roxburghe-obituary.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=9 July 2014 |access-date=10 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Accidental">{{cite news |title=Bamber Gascoigne to save 500-year-old manor after accidental inheritance |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11486628/Bamber-Gascoigne-to-save-500-year-old-manor-after-accidental-inheritance.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=21 March 2015 |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref> Gascoigne sold some of the late Duchess's possessions and used the proceeds to restore the house. This 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]].<ref name="Sherwood"/><ref name="Art Daily">{{cite news |title=Sotheby's to offer the historic collection of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe |url=http://artdaily.com/news/77343/Sotheby-s-to-offer-the-historic-collection-of-Mary--Duchess-of-Roxburghe-#.VSqRCPnF9WZ |work=Art Daily |date=12 April 2015 |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref> An original pencil-and-chalk study for the painting ''[[Flaming June]]'' by Sir [[Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton|Frederic Leighton]] was found on the back of a bedroom door in the house. Art historians knew a sketch had existed, for it was published in an art magazine in 1895, but did not know who had owned it; it was probably bought by the Duchess's paternal grandfather after Leighton's death.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Mark |title=Pre-Raphaelite study discovered behind door in English mansion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/01/pre-raphaelite-study-discovered-behind-door-in-english-mansion |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |date=1 May 2015 |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518085215/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/01/pre-raphaelite-study-discovered-behind-door-in-english-mansion |archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> From 2018 until 2023, West Horsley Place was used as the filming location for the fictional Button House in the BBC TV comedy series ''[[Ghosts (2019 TV series)|Ghosts]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=In pictures: Inside the historic West Horsley Place where hit BBC comedy 'Ghosts' is filmed |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/gallery/pictures-inside-historic-west-horsley-21482457 |work=Surrey Live |date=4 September 2021 |access-date=8 February 2022}}</ref>