Abbott, George
People > Abbott, George
George Abbott was born in London in 1880 but his parents moved back to their home town of Northampton when he was just a few weeks old.
Abbott joined the Royal Navy just three days after his 15th birthday and then unusually followed a distinguished career in each of the three services.
His first taste of fame was to be at the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901 when he was selected to be one of the young naval ratings to pull the gun carriage bearing the coffin of the Queen. A horse carrying a senior army officer in the procession got excited and broke away from the parade, Abbott fell out from his place on the pulling ropes, recaptured the horse, calmed it and returned it to its rider potentially saving casualties. For his gallantry he was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal (the funeral procession can actually be viewed at www.britishpathe.com)
Abbott eventually achieved the rank of Petty Officer, Unarmed Combat Instructor and frequently appeared at the Naval and Military Tournament at Olympia.
He was recruited to Captain Scott's 1910 Expedition to the Antarctic (with Bedford born Apsley Cherry-Garrard), on which it appears that he had various responsibilities. There are stories that when the expedition was running short of food, he killed a large Weddell seal with his bare hands in order to acquire meat to feed the starving group. He lost a number of his fingers in the attempt and never regained the full mobility of that hand again.
Despite his immense physical strength his experiences left him scarred and on returning from the fateful expedition, Abbott spent some time in a Royal Naval Hospital suffering from mental fatigue (a fate which befell many of those who spent long periods in the antarctic). He was eventually invalided out of the navy and sent to a public hospital, as a result of which he lost his service pension.
Former polar colleague Cherry Garrard worked hard in publicly campaigning against the Government's treatment of those who had once been considered heroes and he even paid for some of the treatment needed by his friend. Abbott was eventually permitted to rejoin, first the army in August 1914, subsequently transferring to the Royal Air Force in 1919.
At the time of his death in November 1923 he was a Flying Officer stationed at R.A.F. Henlow where he served for many years, test flying aircraft which at that time were all still open cockpit. A week before his death he had actually flown to Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire to give a lecture on his Antarctic experiences. He was reported to have lost his goggles and his helmet during the flight and as a result he contracted a very heavy cold which developed into the pneumonia that killed him.
He was given what almost amounted to a state funeral with a special train taking the coffin and all of the 600 personnel from Henlow to Northampton for the burial service. There was a full parade through Henlow led by the band of the Royal Air Force and a guard of honour both at the Church and Billing Road Cemetery and the shops in the town centre were all closed as a mark of respect.
His widow moved back to Northampton where she became a Domestic Science Teacher and died in 1992. Their only son Donald who joined the Fleet Air Arm, was killed in a flying accident while test flying a new aeroplane over Lee On Solent in October 1950.
There is a memorial to George Abbott in St. Andrews, Church, Henlow but his home was demolished during development of the R.A.F.Station.
Mount Abbott and Abbott Peak two geological features in Antarctica are both named after him.
There are no books specifically about George Abbott but so important was he to the morale and survival of those who did return that he has a special mention in every publication on Captain Scott and the 1910 Terra Nova Expedition, and in particular in ‘Antarctic Adventure' by Raymond Priestley.
George Abbott, by Trevor Stewart, 2015
Page last updated: 28th August 2015