Frank Rosslyn Bradlow was a leading collector and consultant on Africana. He was educated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg and at the University of Witwatersrand where he was awarded a B. Comm. degree as the best graduate of the year. In 1934, after leaving university, he joined Bradlows Stores which his father, born in Smorgon (Belarus), had founded in 1903. He worked in various branches of the firm including those in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) which his father had opened after the Nationalist Government in South Africa had passed the Quota Act. This is where his interest in collection Africana started, in 1938.

In World War II Frank Bradlow served in the Imperial Light Horse in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Egypt, losing the sight of his left eye through a shrapnel wound in 1942. After being discharged from the army in 1943 he went back to the family business. In 1945 he settled in Cape Town and married Edna Rom. They had three children. At the end of February 1981 he retired from the family business and became an Africana consultant, advising clients on art and books. He had numerous publications, both his own and with his wife, Dr Edna Bradlow.. These included books, reviews, journal and newspaper articles, introductions and texts for reprints of the great classics and for newer publications. He served in many public offices, including serving on Council of the University of Cape Town for almost twenty years. His interests were recognized by the award of various honours.