Frank Adams was born in 1852, the second son of Frank Adams and Ellen Straith. His father was a
Major General and was the son of the former Mayor of Coventry and
High Sheriff of
Warwickshire, Henry Cadwallader Adams (of
Ansty Hall, Warwickshire) and Emma Curtis, daughter of
Sir William Curtis,
1st Baronet of Cullonds Grove (1752–1829), the former Member of Parliament for the
City of London,
Lord Mayor famed for the definition of
the 3Rs as "reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic" (attributed to him from a speech made at a
Board of education dinner). The Adams possession of the family seat at Anstey dated back to 1799 with ''Burke's Peerage'' detailing the family lineage back as far as the Rev. Simon Adams, Rector of Aston Le Walls 1627 to 1673, himself the son of Simon Adams Frank's siblings were his older brother William Ormond (born 1847), and four younger siblings, Howard Cadwallader, Ellen Georgina, Emma Catherine, and Mary Beatrice. He was educated at
Wellington College, a younger co-student of another England rugby captain
Henry Lawrence. ==Rugby union career==