Abbott was born in London in 1808, the son of Edward Abbott, an oilman and Italian warehouseman descended from George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury.
[1] The couple had eight children, including Edwin Abbott Abbott, author of Flatland; a daughter, Elizabeth, married John Humffreys Parry.
Abbott's social concern led him to keep up contact with the Christian Socialists.
[1] He translated the third volume of J. H. Merle D'Aubigné's history of the reformation, wrote textbooks on Latin, English grammar and arithmetic, and published a concordance to Alexander Pope.
Abbott retired as headmaster in 1872, and died at Upper Norwood in 1882.