 Frank had five brothers and one sister; all grew up in Hallam Street, Port Pirie.He was working as a "needleman", sewing bags of flour in Port Pirie for John Dunn around 1906 when he was persuaded to move to Adelaide and organise a union for workers in the flour mills.He was in 1910 the South Australian representative at a Federal conference which established the Federated Millers and Mill Employes Union, and was that body's South Australian Secretary from 1910 to at least 1928.