Born in the Falkland Islands, on account of his parents, who resided in Ushuaia, having gone to those islands in view of the impossibility of providing the necessary arrangements for his birth in that town.

When the infant was a few weeks old, the family returned to Tierra del Fuego and there, at Bridges' Mission they remained for five years. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Lewis was the first white woman who lived in those parts.

After this lapse of time the Lewis family went back to the Falklands where they remained till 1894. In that year Frank bought some sheep at "Cabeza del Mar", and a few months later with assistance of his brother William, drove them to the River Santa Cruz having had to undergo on the journey every imaginable difficulty and obstacle. But the worst was still to come, that is, to cross the river in midwinter. For the purpose and after great deliberation, they decided to build a small wherry in which they were greatly aided by a Tehuelche Indian they had hired as a labourer. Little by little, in this extempore craft they crossed from one bank of the river to the other with the animals, and after a week of hard and patient labour they were able to prosecute their journey.

There were 1.500 sheep, and with these they settled on the lands of "Cañadon del Toro" which they had decided to stock. Not long after arriving they entered into partnership with Mr. Wickham Bertrand which lasted for a period of ten years. At its dissolution, William Lewis remained at the head of the estancia "Cañadon del Toro" and Frank went to "Corpen Aike" or "La Margarita" an establishment they had just begun to work.