The diary records Francis Gillen's experiences as a young man in 1875, travelling from Adelaide along the Overland Telegraph Line to work in Alice Springs.

This diary includes two word lists.The first list appears to be collected from Peake Station, contains mainly Arabana words and possibly some Wangkangurru. It is likely the second vocabulary was collected near the Hugh River, mainly Southern Aranda.

The diary was located in the 1970's at the South Australian Museum amongst the H.K. Fry collection (see AA 105) to whom the diary had been lent by Gillen's son, J.B. Gillen.

Wakefield Press published the diary in 1995 'F.J. Gillen's FIRST DIARY 1875' edited by Robert S. Gillen.