 His father, John Jardine, was a Scottish military officer who came to Australia with his wife in 1840 to take up the offer of a land grant and become a grazier.The Jardines sold "Rathluba" in 1842 and after a brief period living near Cecil Park, moved to the Wellington district in the central-west of the colony.Frank's father became a well-known pastoral squatter, Commissioner of Crown Lands and police magistrate in this region, obtaining and selling various properties including "Gobolion" and "The Holmes".