Frank Hood was born at Glenorchy in 1903 to Charles Andrew and Sarah Hood (nee Bond). For a period the family lived at a property 'Glen Lion' at East Risdon (seemingly adjoined to T. G. Gregson's old estate).;;In 1919 the Hood family moved from Risdon to Maria Island and then to "Wombat Park' Spring Beach, Orford in 1920. They remained in the district for the rest of their lives. In adulthood, Frank acquired his own piece of land and lived in "The Shack" in the bush behind Spring Beach.;;Charles Hood (1862-1951) was born in Adelaide as the youngest son of Nathaniel Hood (b.Derby, UK, c.1808). Charles married Sarah Bond in Launceston in 1885. While being well-educated, with good prospects and social connections, Charles was a poet and a dreamer. Charles was employed as a stationmaster at Evandale between at least 1887 - 1891 where four of his children were born. Sarah Hood (1862-1952) was the child of William Bond, a convict per the Cressy, and Mary Ann Cornish. Frank Hood's siblings were Genevieve, Mildred, Inez, Alroy (Roy) and Hector. Sarah's first child, Victor Charles passed away in his first year. ;;Both Charles and Sarah Hood were educated and politically active in the newly founded Labor Party. Through continuous moves; poor financial decisions and particular personalities and beliefs, became impoverished. The lives of their six children reflect strongly the choices and circumstances of their parents. ;;Frank, having little contact with the outside world, spoke with the slow Devon-drawl of his English antecedents. Said to be home-educated and taught to read by his sister Genevieve, Frank started writing diaries of his daily life when 15 years old. His last surviving diary ends around October 1983. Frank's diaries discuss his family, weather, religion and politics, as well as his daily struggles with poverty and isolation. Frank adopted a young Jersey cow called Juno in 1916 who lived 13 years till c1929. He became the official recorder of weather at Spring Beach from 1934, taking temperatures four times daily at 5am; noon; 3pm and 9pm and recording rainfall.;;While Frank Hood's diaries form the major part of the Tasmanian Archive's collection, a miscellaneous selection of the papers of other family members have also survived;;Genevieve Elizabeth Hood (1888-1965) and Mildred Hood (1890-1959) also created diaries. Genevieve was a creative writer and illustrator who loved cats and strawberry cultivation - cross-breeding her own 'Old Orford' variety. A chronic chest weakness and then pneumonia put her in the Royal Hobart Hospital and then St Johns Park, New Town. Inez Hood (b.1891) is not mentioned among the papers in the Archival collection. Alroy (Roy) Hood drowned at Spring Beach, Orford on the 26 Nov 1930. The youngest child Hector Hood (b.1905) married Muriel Edith Lillian Dean in 1950. Together they had one daughter, Rosie Marie Edith Sarah, who died in a car accident in 1982. There is much discussion among the diaries and letters of Hector's motor lorry. Muriel was the last surviving member of the family.;;After suffering a heart attack Frank passed away in 1985 in Hobart. His last place of residence was Spring Beach, Orford. In his will he left his estate to neighbours at Spring Beach.