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HERITAGE NOOSA
HERITAGE NOOSA
Michelle Freeman
DETAILS
NameMichelle Freeman
OverviewMichelle was born in 1956 in Brisbane. Michelle talks about her parents, Emma and Kevin Freeman and her grandparents, Olive Hay who married Charlie Freeman.
Her mother Emma was a midwife in Noosa and also was an artist and made tourist souvenirs, and her father was a local Noosa resident who had a photography business and shop in Hastings St. As a child they lived in cramped conditions in the shop. Her older brother Peter, was born in Port Kembla, as Emma did not feel safe to give birth in Noosa. She has a younger brother Carl, and cousin Dianne. Kevin, her father is related to the Hay family, and he has worked extensively on this family history using photos and recollections from Olive.
Michelle talks about living in a tent at Upper Hastings St., then living on land near Laguna Lookout before it was developed. She describes Hastings St as dirt tracks and paddocks. There was no health care, and childhood accidents were treated at home. They had no car, just a motorbike at this time. The family built and moved to a bigger home, Driftwood still in Hastings St., on land originally owned by her grandfather.
Michelle is a musician, playing a range of instruments, and a member of the Noosa Orchestra. She has performed with many well-known local artists. She tells several stories of her childhood – the shark nets, alternative names of the bays around Noosa, body surfing and rescuing very old dinghy after a cyclone. A special event in her life was swimming out to a raft, La Balsa, that had been sailed from South America and was rescued off Sunshine Beach.


Her mother Emma was a midwife in Noosa and also was an artist and made tourist souvenirs, and her father was a local Noosa resident who had a photography business and shop in Hastings St. As a child they lived in cramped conditions in the shop. Her older brother Peter, was born in Port Kembla, as Emma did not feel safe to give birth in Noosa. She has a younger brother Carl, and cousin Dianne. Kevin, her father is related to the Hay family, and he has worked extensively on this family history using photos and recollections from Olive.
Michelle talks about living in a tent at Upper Hastings St., then living on land near Laguna Lookout before it was developed. She describes Hastings St as dirt tracks and paddocks. There was no health care, and childhood accidents were treated at home. They had no car, just a motorbike at this time. The family built and moved to a bigger home, Driftwood still in Hastings St., on land originally owned by her grandfather.
Michelle is a musician, playing a range of instruments, and a member of the Noosa Orchestra. She has performed with many well-known local artists. She tells several stories of her childhood – the shark nets, alternative names of the bays around Noosa, body surfing and rescuing very old dinghy after a cyclone. A special event in her life was swimming out to a raft, La Balsa, that had been sailed from South America and was rescued off Sunshine Beach.

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Subject (Keywords)Artists
Photographers


CONNECTIONS
LocalityNoosa Heads
PlaceHastings Street
PersonMichelle FreemanFamilyFreeman FamilyMenuDecade | 2020-2029Location | Noosaville


Michelle Freeman. Heritage Noosa, accessed 13/02/2025, https://heritage.noosa.qld.gov.au/nodes/view/4509