Called to the home she didn’t know was home

When Deborah Banks moved to Armidale recently, she had been looking all over the state for the right place to buy a home.

“I have lived in a few country towns – Blackheath, Braidwood, Bungendore, Goulburn, Yass, Wollongbar and Lismore. I searched for a place that really felt like home.”

“At one point, I was moving once a year to a new cool rental property.”

Like Christine, Deborah had only recently arrived in Lismore when the floods hit. And then, as she was considering her next move, both of her parents passed away.

“I was devastated and yet eternally grateful that they left a legacy that gave me the opportunity to buy a house again for the first time in 24 years.”

“I looked all over New South Wales for about six months, but I kept being drawn to Armidale.”

Raised in Sydney, she had been to the New England as a kid visiting her best friend on a property at Torryburn and has always loved the area.

“But that doesn’t really explain the pull that I felt.”

“One of the first houses I spotted online was in Armidale that really appealed to me however I wanted to consider all my options. Despite looking all over NSW I kept being drawn back to New England.”

“I kept coming back to this house,” Deborah said.

Then, quite by surprise, Deborah found out that her grandfather was born at Yarrowyck. she thought that was interesting, given it is the neighbouring station to Torryburn, but didn’t think much more of it, and didn’t know of any other ancestors in the area.

Able to go anywhere, but chose here

A registered counsellor and psychotherapist, Deborah is another health professional desperately needed in the New England.

“The reason why I could live anywhere was I’m a counsellor and psychotherapist, and, at the moment, I’m doing all my work from a home based clinic, and it’s all zoom and phone with people all over the country.”

“I do a lot of trauma work. So, I work a lot with victims of crime in New South Wales, ACT and Queensland,” she said.

At the moment Deborah is fully booked with her Zoom and phone clients, but she is looking at opening up a clinic locally when the schedule allows.

“There’s not a big push for me at the moment because I’m fully booked, but I’ll be opening up a clinic for face to face clients.”

“I really would love to see clients face to face, particularly couples.”

Like many who have moved to the New England, it was the friendliness of the people that made the difference.

“When I came here with my son, just to check out the house for the first time, we were just really knocked out by how kind and friendly everyone was.

“We left our motel to walk into town, to The Welder’s Dog for a drink. And people walking past us in the street were just saying, ‘Hi, how are you going, have a good night.”

“I’ve lived in some really small country towns where that was more common, but I didn’t find that in the larger country towns like Goulburn and Lismore.”

“And it just felt so welcoming. Everyone I’ve interacted with, whether it’s been people who have been working on the house or any shops or services that I’ve accessed have just been so lovely and friendly.”

Finding more than a new home

Deborah has moved into the home she had spotted originally in Armidale, and shortly after arriving started doing a bit more research on ancestry.com.

“Turns out my mum’s family goes back six generations in New England.”

“I don’t think she had any idea as she was born in Sydney and raised as a young girl in Gulargambone.”

With names like Handebo, Monckton, Curtis, Godley, Molloy, Carter and Beezley dominating her family tree, it’s hard to estimate just how many New England locals would be recognising a family resemblance in Deborah’s photo. The technical term is probably ‘lots’.

As she started to explore her new home town those names were everywhere.

“There’s Monckton Avenue. There’s the Monckton pool. So many Monckton’s.”

“I found my fourth great grandparents in the Armidale cemetery – John was a convict who was sent out here for stealing sheep in Ireland.

“And then I found third great grandparents, and second great grandparents,” she said.

“And the one that broke my heart was my great grandma, who was my mum’s grandma. I found her out at Bundarra, but her grave is umarked.”

“It really had this emotional impact on me. I’ve tracked down which one is hers, there’s this little cross, but there’s no marking on it, and I want to do something about it.”

“So, it’s like, oh my God, that’s why I’ve been drawn to this area. Someone said ‘you’ve returned your ancestral homeland’, and that’s kind of what it feels like.”

“I felt that something bigger than me was pulling me to this area, which sounds a bit woo-woo, but there you go.”

Having grown up without knowing much extended family, and having recently lost her parents, Deborah said she would love to connect with family. She’s already connected with a couple of long lost friends.

“Funnily enough, after I decided to move and I bought the house, I found out that I had an old school friend who lives here, and I’ve caught up with her for a coffee.

“We went to school from the age of five in Sydney, and was like no time had passed.”

“Another great friend who I thought lived in Tamworth, but ends up living here. She we worked together years ago, and I hadn’t seen her for 30 odd years, and we’ve reconnected and and that’s been wonderful.”