Francis Russell Paton

Francis Russell Paton was born in New Zealand on 8 April 1906 to Francis Gair Paton and Grace Eva Florence Paton (née Russell) who had married in Brisbane, Australia, on 1 December 1903. Known as ‘Frank Paton’ he was one of the pioneers of competitive table tennis in New Zealand. He began playing in 1920 at the Auckland YMCA Boys Division and by 1926 was Auckland Champion. In 1935 he won the Men’s Singles Championship, receiving the Donald Cup. Paton and Edna Daisy Kent married in Auckland in 1937 and the pair had their honeymoon in Melbourne where they attended a cricket match between England and Australia. In 1939 Paton won the South Island singles and in 1940 the North Island singles, becoming New Zealand’s first triple champion in table tennis. He also won the table tennis doubles title twice, in 1937 and 1945. Paton represented Auckland in basketball, rugby, and briefly in rugby league. By 1949 the family were living in Tauranga where Frank captained the Bay of Plenty cricket team. He refereed senior rugby for several years and umpired Plunket Shield cricket for more than 10 years. Paton died in Tauranga on 23 April 1999 and was cremated at Pyes Pā Memorial Park. Biography by Debbie McCauley (9 November 2020).