Around 1860 he received a commission in the Rifle Brigade but resigned in 1870 having risen no higher than Lieutenant.

In 1904 he introduced the term beaker into the archaeological lexicon to describe the copper age drinking vessels being found all over western Europe.

His will provided for the foundation of the Abercromby Chair of Archaeology at Edinburgh University, a post occupied by Vere Gordon Childe and Stuart Piggott.

[10] He died on 7 October 1924 and is buried in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh at its east side, close to the main entrance.

[11] Abercromby married his Swedish cousin, Adele Wilhelmina Marika von Heidenstern, on 26 August 1876.