Abbott was born in Broadford, County Clare in Ireland, and emigrated to Sydney as a boy with his parents, Eleanor, née Kingsmill and Thomas Abbott, policeman, arriving in the colony in 1838.
[1] He was admitted a solicitor in 1854,[2] subsequently specialising in litigation concerning the Robertson Land Acts, and had opened an office in Tamworth.
[7] He was nominated to the Legislative Council in 1885, and sat till 1 March 1888, when he resigned, owing to his objection to certain appointments.
[2] He was a member of the New South Wales Commission in London for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886.
[5] He assisted his cousin, Joseph Abbott, be elected at the 1888 Newtown by-election,[1][8] while his nephew, Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, served in the Legislative Assembly for 21 years, including 10 years as Speaker.