Soldier and farmer. Born Lancashire. Attended Sandhurst Military College from 1839 to 1840. Commissioned into 65th Regiment in 1841. Promoted to Lieutenant (by purchase) in 1844. Travelled from Sydney to Auckland with his regiment, arriving January 1847, and arriving in Wanganui in May 1847. Fought in the Battle of St John's Wood, in July 1847. He was promoted to Captain in Sept 1851. Based in Porirua, 1850-1852, then in Wellington. Retired from 65th regiment July 1853. Had a relationship with and two children, William Kupe (born 1851?) and Ellen Elizabeth (born 1856), by Pango Tukia, possibly of Rānana, Whanganui River. The pair did not marry. Owned a farm in Rangitikei in the 1850s. According to Early Rangitikei by James G. Wilson he 'became owner of Koreromaiwaho [at Greatford] some time in the fifties, after living in Wellington, where he took a leading part in the races in the early days, for he ... seems to have been very fond of horses. He was in the same regiment as Major Marshall, the 65th ... It was fashionable in those days to wear a single eye-glass, and Major Trafford was in the fashion'. His farm, Koreromaiwaho was later added to and re-christened Woodendean. Played in the first cricket match in Wanganui on 31 Dec 1847. About 1858 he took up another farm at Mingiroa, Rangitikei. He became commanding officer of the Wellington Militia in 1860 and was promoted to Major. He left New Zealand for England in 1863. He married Minna Rosalie Wyatt in Devon in 1865. They had no issue. He died in England in 1891.
Trafford, Benjamin William Rawson, 1824?-1891
[Crawford, James Coutts] 1817-1889 :Jordan's formerly Trafford's, Rangitikei. Korero ma...
Date: 1862
By: Crawford, James Coutts, 1817-1889; Webster, Kenneth Athol, 1906-1967
Reference: A-229-052
Description: View of farm buildings with the farmhouse to the right, and three sheds centre and left. There is a small ox-cart in the foreground, a man holding a whip, two horses and a cow, another cart and felled tree-trunks. A dense group of trees rise behind the buildings The farm was named Koreromaiwaho, later Woodendean Other Titles - Koreromaiwaho Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Pencil 130 x 177 mm
[Crawford, James Coutts] 1817-1889 :Korero mai waho, Rangitikei, Jordan's. [1862]
Date: 1862
By: Crawford, James Coutts, 1817-1889; Webster, Kenneth Athol, 1906-1967
Reference: A-229-059
Description: A long view down the fenced enclosure of Captain Jordan's farm at Rangitikei. Two cattle, a wheeled cart and two horses are in the enclosure. A man is riding one horse, another possibly feeding the other. In the background is Jordan's farmhouse beyond a low fence and gate, with dense bush behind it and to the right along the fence-line. Cabbage trees are identifiable close to the fence on the right A-229-060 is on the verso of this view Compare A-229-052 for another view of the same property. The farm's name was Koreromaiwaho. It had belonged until 1862 to Major Benjamin Rawson Trafford. It was situated south of modern Marton and east of the Rangitikei River, adjacent to Westoe, the property of William Fox. It was later renamed Woodenden. Other Titles - Koreromaiwaho Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Ink and pencil sketch on sheet, 130 x 177 mm
[Gilfillan, John Alexander] 1793-1864 :Trafford, 65th. Hon Yelverton R A. Wanganui [Mok...
Date: 1847
From: Balneavis, Henry Colin, 1818-1876 :[Album, 1830s-1914]
By: Gilfillan, John Alexander, 1793-1863
Reference: E-952-f-051
Description: Drawing of two soldiers, paddling along the Whanganui River in two small boats in rain. Kowhaiwhai or moko on the same page, below. Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Ink on wove paper glued to album page, image 186 x 256 mm
Artist unknown: A group of Māori at Wanganui, with Mount Ruapehu beyond
Date: [ca 1860]
By: Barraud, Charles Decimus, 1822-1897; Trafford, Benjamin William Rawson, 1824?-1891
Reference: D-040-003
Description: Shows a scene on the Whanganui River. Shakespeare Cliff is prominent on the right, and Mount Ruapehu is visible in the distance. The Wanganui settlement is nestled into the hills in the middle ground, and the Rutland and York stockades are visible on the hill above the town. In the foreground is a group of Māori, comprising six adults or young adults, and one child, who would appear to be Pākehā. They are grouped as half standing, half being seated. There is much evidence of European clothing being worn by almost all the figures, with a woman on the right in full European dress complete with hat. The child in the group stands close to her and is possibly her own child, though his complexion is pale. The Māori man on the left has full facial tā moko, and holds the reins of a horse, which stands grazing. The horse would appear to belong to the woman in European dress, as it carries a side-saddle. The other man in the scene is dressed wearing a blanket and bare feet, and holds a kete, staff and eeling pot. Beyond the group can be seen the pallisades of Putiki Pā, beside which graze a half a dozen cattle. A number of vessels can be seen on the river, including a schooner and a double-sailed waka. The artist of this work is uncertain, after close comparison against works by other artists including John Alexander Gilfillan, Richard Aldworth Oliver, and Charles Decimus Barraud was undertaken. Benjamin Rawson Trafford has also been suggested as the artist, but no other work in watercolours by him is known for stylistic comparison. He was in Wanganui between ca 1847 and 1863 and had a Māori wife and child, possibly the subjects of this watercolour. He may also have been the earliest owner of the work and was the step-ancestor of the English vendor Other Titles - Whanganui. Benjamin William Rawson Trafford Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Watercolour, pencil and Chinese white on paper, 482 x 713 mm Provenance: Prior to auction, in a private collection, England by descent from a step-ancestor, Benjamin Rawson Trafford, an early settler in Whanganui, to Lady Rosalind Bodington Processing information: Description updated 26 September 2023 following information provided by a staff member, as part of reparative description work.
[Fox, William] 1812-1893 :Koreromawhia, Rangitikei, N. Zeald. Koreromawhia, Mr Willis (...
Date: 1864
By: Fox, William, 1812-1893
Reference: WC-055
Description: Shows two men with horses in foreground, cabbage trees to the right, farm buildings across fields. The farm, correctly Koreromaiwaho, adjacent to Westoe, William Fox's run, was owned by William Jarvis Willis and earlier by Benjamin William Rawson Trafford Other Titles - Koreromaiwaho Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Watercolour 246 x 348 mm
Mrs Trafford
Date: [betweeen 1870-1889]
From: Harding, William James, 1826-1899: Negatives of Wanganui district
Reference: 1/4-006035-G
Description: Photograph taken by the studio of William James Harding, Whanganui. Source of descriptive information - Negative register and inscriptions on negative Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Glass negative, 4.25 x 3.25 inches
[Merrett, Joseph Jenner] 1815-1854 :Tomita ; Waka ; Nene, New Zealand Chief. 1846?]
Date: 1844 - 1848
By: Merrett, Joseph Jenner, 1815-1854; Trafford, Benjamin William Rawson, 1824?-1891; Methodist Missionary Society
Reference: A-255-019
Description: Shows Tamati Waka Nene, standing in flax cloak, with rifle held across his body. Probably painted around the time of the Northland wars, 1845-46, in Auckland or Northland. Cf two very similar portraits, also by Merrett, of Tamati Waka Nene held by Waihi Arts Centre and Museum and by Auckland Public Library. Has also been attributed to Benjamin William Rawson Trafford, in Wanganui from 1847 Attribution based on style. Date based on date of Auckland Public Library version. However the work is also very similar to a lithograph attributed to Benjamin Trafford 'Tamati Waka Nene, Chief of the Ngapui'; 'Lieut B Trafford del', published in Power, J T. Sketches in New Zealand, with pen and pencil ... (London, 1849), opposite p 104 Other Titles - Tamati Waka Nene; Bejamin William Rawson Trafford Inscriptions: Recto - beneath image - title Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Watercolour on paper 295 x 258 mm Provenance: Previously the property of the Methodist Missionary Society, London