Robin Jefferson at the time of his election as Bowls New Zealand vice-president in late 2017. Photo / Gisborne Herald
New Zealand’s lawn bowls community has saluted Robin Jefferson following his death in Gisborne last week at the age of 84.
But skill at bowls was only the best known of Robin Gerard Jefferson’s attributes.
Born in Christchurch on August 18, 1941, he was the son of teaching parents whose postings kept him on the move ... to Glenavy (near Ōamaru), Seaward Downs (south of Gore), Tuatapere (self-proclaimed sausage capital of New Zealand and a southern gateway to Fiordland).
At Tuatapere, the 10-year-old Jefferson would lean on the local bowling club’s fence and study the way players weighted their shots.
Then it was back to Christchurch as a boarder at St Bede’s College, where he made the First XI in cricket and First XV in rugby, and did well in squash and indoor bowls.
Beyond school sports, Jefferson played first-class cricket for Otago and Wellington, Under-20 and colts rugby for Canterbury, and indoor bowls for North Otago and Otago.
His career with the Bank of New Zealand ensured he remained well travelled. From a start in Christchurch, he was transferred to Riverton, Invercargill, Wellington, Ōamaru and Dunedin.
In 1979, at age 38, he was sent to start a new branch of the BNZ in Suva, Fiji.
He joined the Suva Bowling Club as a social member so he, wife Mary and their children had a place to go to socialise. He didn’t play until a fellow worker brought in a box of bowls he wanted to sell.
Jefferson’s purchase of those bowls ignited a sporting passion that brought him 10 national titles in Fiji.
In the 1982/83 season he was back in New Zealand and joining the Plimmerton and Whitby bowling clubs. His coaching of new players at Plimmerton drew attention, and in 1987 he was appointed coaching director for the Wellington centre.
His coaching philosophy could be summed up in three words – practise, practise, practise.
At work, Jefferson was in demand for his managerial qualities. The BNZ sent him to Palmerston North and Napier in relieving roles, then he became Gisborne branch manager in 1990.
Belatedly, he set down roots. He ended up leaving the bank and went into business with Mary. They ran the Mercados Gallery and picture-framing enterprise for 21 years in Gladstone Rd.
All the while he continued playing bowls competitively and mentoring players who were keen to learn, New Zealand representative Shannon McIlroy among them.
Jefferson’s playing credentials were impressive. He won a national pairs title with Peter Belliss in 1992, and in the 1992-93 Super Bowls national competition, he beat a string of big names – Phil Skoglund jnr and Gary Lawson among them – before falling 3-2 to Belliss in the final.
He was selected for the North Island and represented the Wellington and – from 1990 to 2020 – the Gisborne-East Coast centres.
He was a member of all three city bowling clubs – Gisborne, Poverty Bay and Kahutia – and was the Gisborne-East Coast player of the year in 2013, ’15, ’18 and ’21. He won the centre men’s singles title 10 times.
Jefferson was in a Burton Cup-winning team on four occasions. He won 57 Gisborne-East Coast centre titles to go with the two he earned in Wellington (singles and fours) and singles titles he won in Kāpiti and Wairarapa.
His left knee troubled him in later years and he did not play at all in the 2024-25 season.
Many credited his competitive approach and dedication to improvement with raising the overall standard of play in the Gisborne-East Coast centre.
In his time as centre president, he promoted the game through radio and newspaper reports, and the Mates’n’Bowls social roll-ups on the Gisborne Bowling Club greens.
When Jefferson was made Bowls New Zealand vice-president, it appeared he was being groomed to take on the national presidency. But the major centres preferred another candidate and they had the votes.
Larger events kept this disappointment in perspective. On the day of the annual meeting where the new president was appointed, September 14, 2019, Jefferson’s wife Mary died at the age of 76.
They had been companions in life, as supporters of their four sports-minded sons, and in business at Mercados.
Jefferson would smile as he recounted how, early in their courtship, Mary asked him what his intentions were. She wasn’t about to have her affections trifled with or her time wasted.
Bowls New Zealand acknowledged Jefferson’s contribution in a Facebook post. Among the comments were tributes from many of those he had influenced.
Shannon McIlroy said “Jeffo” was his first proper coach, who would pick him up at 6.30am for an hour’s training on the green before school. Jefferson instilled discipline in him, when he didn’t even know what that was and, in an era where bowls was not regarded as a sport for teenagers, believed in him.
Philip Skoglund wrote: “A fierce competitor who made you fight for everything, off the green a gentleman.”
World Bowls president Brett O’Riley wrote: “Jeffo was a legend, a top cricketer and rugby player who brought that old-school steely Southern determination to the bowling green.”
Jefferson was also a man of faith. He regularly attended weekday Mass, at one stage riding a mobility scooter to church when he could no longer drive.
He was farewelled at St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Monday in a Requiem Mass celebrated by his nephew Father Gerard Boyce, of Whakatāne.
Father Gerard’s brother, Father Brendan Boyce, travelled from Canberra for the funeral and led the Rosary the previous evening.
Their father, Ross Boyce, played the organ at the funeral. Jefferson was best man when Boyce married Phillippa, Jefferson’s sister, who was also at the funeral.
Robin Jefferson is survived by his sons Simon, Grant, Mark and Paul, and grandchildren Ethan, Maia, Noah, Phoebe, Sophie, Ruby and Bowie.