Of Lewisham, London, was evacuated as a schoolgirl, during the war, to Hastings, then Wales, and finally to Daventry. She loved life in the countryside so joined the post-war Land Army after a brief spell as a clerk at Lewisham Town Hall. Frances became a Forewoman at "The Holt" and shared a bedroom with Dora, a Driver. Some Saturday afternoons she used to hitch a lift home to London, along the A5 Watling Street because she couldn't afford the train fare.

She left the Land Army in order to marry a local hairdresser, Bill Jones, who was also an excellent accordion player with a local dance band. After marriage, she worked for a further year for Frank Sommerford at Mill Lane Farm, Salford. She remembered him as a man with huge hands who could carry twenty chicken's eggs at a time.