Frank Hardy

Frank Hardy
Born	Francis Joseph Hardy 21 March 1917 Southern Cross, Victoria, Australia
Died	28 January 1994 (aged 76) Carlton North, Australia
Resting place	Fawkner Memorial Park
Pen name	Ross Franklin
Occupation	Author
Language	English
Nationality	Australian
Citizenship	Australian
Period	1950-1992
Literary movement	left wing political
Notable works	Power Without Glory
Spouse	Rosslyn Couper
Children	Frances, Allan and Shirley
Relatives	Sister, Mary Hardy, granddaughter Marieke Hardy

Francis "Frank" Joseph Hardy, (21 March 1917 – 28 January 1994) publishing as Frank Hardy was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He previously wrote under the pseudonym Ross Franklyn. Later, he was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky Australians, in 1968. He ran unsuccessfully for the Australian parliament twice.

Frank Hardy, the fifth of the eight children of Thomas and Winifred Hardy, was born on 21 March 1917 at Southern Cross in Western Victoria and later moved with his family to Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne. His mother, Winifred, was a Roman Catholic – his father, Thomas, an atheist of Welsh and English descent. In 1931 Hardy left school, aged 14, and embarked upon a series of manual jobs. According to Hardy biographer Pauline Armstrong, "his first job was as a messenger and bottlewasher at the local chemist's shop" and then Hardy worked at the local grocer. He later also did manual work "in and around Bacchus Marsh in the milk factory, digging potatoes, picking tomatoes and fruit".

There is some debate among Hardy's biographers about the relative extent Hardy personally suffered from hardships during the 1930s depression. Hardy claimed himself that he left home when he was 13 because "his dad couldn't get the dole" with him at home. However, Jim Hardy, Frank's eldest brother, wrote to the Melbourne Herald on 6 November 1983 to rebut this assertion, claiming that Frank had never had to leave home – further noting that their "father never lost a day's work in his life". According to biographer Jenny Hocking in a more recent biography, Tom Hardy indeed did lose his job at a milk factory at the start of the Great Depression, and the family had had to move into a small rented house in Lerderderg Street.

In 1937 Radio Times published a selection of his cartoons.

In 1940 Hardy married Rosslyn Couper and they had three children, Frances, Alan and Shirley. From 1954 they made their home in Sydney.

Because of his experiences during the Depression, Hardy joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1939. Hardy stood unsuccessfully twice as a CPA candidate for public office: in 1953 as a Senate candidate for Victoria, and in 1955 for the seat of Mackellar (NSW) in the House of Representatives.

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