HALCOMBE – Township on the Rangitikei Plans, 16km south east of Marton and 13km north west of Feilding.
The land here was brought up in 1871 as part of the 40,500 ha ‘Manchester Block’ by the Hon Lieutenant Colonel William Fielding, chief representative of the special English Settlement scheme promoted by the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Corporation formed in 1867 under the chairmanship of the Duke of Manchester.
The first settlers arrived in 1874 and named after Arthur William Follett Halcombe who came to NZ in 1855 and in 1872 became New Zealand agent and general manager for the E.C.A. Corporation.
More details can be found in the book “The line of the Road – A History of Manawatu county 1876-1976” By M.H. Holcroft.
By the middle of 1877 the Manchester Block had 1600 settlers.
