ABBOTT, Nigel Basil Gresley
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 July 1916, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Medical Officers |
| Born: | San Francisco, USA, 4 May 1891 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Adelaide University |
| Occupation: | Medical Doctor |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 30 October 1978, aged 87 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Tasmania Derwent Gardens Aust. Imp. Forces Arch 11 3C |
| Memorials: | Adelaide Grand Masonic Lodge WW1 Honour Board (1), Hackney St Peter's College Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Jul 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Nov 1916: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, Medical Officers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Bakara embarkation_ship_number: A41 public_note: '' |
|
| 4 Nov 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, Officer, Medical Officers, HMAT Bakara, Adelaide | |
| 29 Jan 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1 |
Biography
Nigel Basil Gresley Abbott was born 4th May 1891 in San Francisco. The family returned to their family home in Sandy Bay, Tasmania after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Shortly after returning from the USA, the family moved to Adelaide and Nigel completed his education at St Peters College (SPSC).
He completed his Senior Public Examinations there from 1908 - 1910 including Elementary Biology which was taken at the University of Adelaide.
While at St. Peters College he proved to be a fine tennis player and in 1909 was a member of the intercollegiate team that defeated Prince Alfred College. In 1910 he was captain of the First Tennis Team. He was also a member of the St Peters College Cadet Corps.
He enrolled in Medicine at the University of Adelaide in 1911 and graduated MB.BS. in 1916. While at University Nigel was a member of the Rifle, Lacrosse and Tennis Clubs and in the 1915/16 cricket season showed his versatility by playing some games for the Cricket Club. His older brother Charles Arthur Lempriere Abbott also had attended Adelaide University studying Arts and Law. Charles rowed for the University.
Nigel Abbott was awarded Blues for Rifle and Lacrosse. He played tennis for the C and B Grade teams in 1911 to 1914 however in 1915 he was elevated at times to the top side which played in the SA Lawn tennis association Pennant Competition.
At the Intervarsity Athletics Carnival held in Adelaide in 1914, Nigel finished second in the Shot-Put with an effort of 30ft 8 in.
In 1915 Nigel played tennis until Christmas. In September he played for University against his old school. In the Saint Peters College Team was the young Howard Florey who would also later study medicine 1917 - 1921) and win the 1921 Rhodes Scholarship and later the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Fleming and Chain for the discovery, clinical development of Penicillin. In the New Year he decided to try his hand at cricket. It may have been that the Cricket Club was finding it hard to find enough players to make up their two sides. Many players from the Club had enlisted throughout 1915 and it would not be surprising that some of his fellow medical students who also played cricket recruited him.
The War and Family Legacy
Much of Nigel's War involvement is provided in the biography Blood, Sweat and Fears, Medical Practitioners and Medical Students or Served in World War 1; Christopher Verco, Annette Summers, Tony Swain & Michael Jelly. (Army Health Services Historical Group)
Nigel had been an Australian Army Medical Corps Reservist after graduation and in August 1916 applied for a Commission to Serve overseas. Captain Abbott for two years served mainly with the Field Ambulance. After the War, Nigel returned to Tasmania and practiced as a General Practitioner and was Medical Officer for the City of Hobart.
Nigel and wife Bessie had six children. The two eldest sons served in World War 2. The eldest son, Nigel Drury Gresley Abbott returned to Adelaide to study medicine graduating MB.BS. in 1944. He returned to Tasmania also and became a politician and held the seat of Denison for the Liberals from 1964 - 1972. He served in WW2 and in Vietnam with the Australian Army Medical Corps.
Other Son Ian Drury Lempriere Abbott joined the RAAF and served as a Flying Officer in WW2.
Nigel's older brother Charles (B.A. 1911, LL.B. 1914) entered politics, became SA Attorney General and later a Supreme Court Judge.
Charles' sons, Charles Anthony Lempriere (LL.B. 1947) and Derek Athol Lempriere (LL.B. 1950) followed into the legal profession. Both served in WW2. Derek, a State Amateur footballer played for the Blacks and later was vice-captain to Len Fitzgerald with Sturt in the SANFL.
Derek's son, Hugh also a Lawyer (LLB 1983 ?) at Adelaide University and played football and cricket for the Blacks.
Profile added with the permission of the author Rob O'Shannassy.
For the complete profile including photographs, newspaper articles, documents and sources prepared for the AUFC/AUCC WWI Memorial Project please see the document attached.
Submitted 5 June 2025 by Eleanor Filmer
Biography
Excerpt from Blood Sweat and Fears: Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australian who Served in World War 1. Courtesy of the Authors
Nigel Basil Gresley Abbott was born in San Francisco on the 4th May 1891 the son of Dr Charles T Abbott, of Tasmania, and Susanna Evelyn, nee Beitsch. His father had left Australia in 1883 and returned to Sandy Bay, Tasmania after the 18th May 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He reported that his wife was in poor health and his sons were still in trauma from the shock of the event. He later received a Letter from Congress on behalf of the President and Congress of America for his contribution to the relief of the population after the disaster. Later the family moved to SA to live in Woodside. Abbott studied and graduated from Adelaide University in 1916 with MB BS, under the New Regulations. Abbott’s father moved to Clunes, Victoria after Abbott’s enlistment in the AAMC.
Abbott enlisted in the AIF in July 1916 with the rank of captain. He was 25 years old and single, 5ft 10ins tall, weighing 11st 2 lbs. He was described as being of medium complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His prior medical experience was 3 months as an Acting House Surgeon at the Adelaide Hospital and 8 days as a House Surgeon at Broken Hill. He indicated that his previous military experience was, in 1909, a lieutenant on probation in the Commonwealth Military Cadet Corps. He stated he was proficient in Latin and French and could ride. He was recommended for General Duties. He departed from Port Adelaide on the 4th November 1916 in HMAT Bakara for Egypt where, on arrival, he was appointed to the 2ASH. Over the next 2 years he moved between the 2nd, 5th and 6th Field Ambulances, the Medical School at Moascar, Ismailia and lastly the 31st General Hospital at Abbassia near Cairo. He embarked from Port Said in Ormonde for London on 24th February 1919 on duty for further post graduate study. On 21st June1919 Abbott, married Bessie Drury Alcock aged 25 years at the Holy Trinity Church Lyons Tower, Hertford. Together with a large contingent of the AAMC he sailed from England in HMAT Wahene on 14th December 1919 to Melbourne with his appointment terminated in Adelaide on 29th January 1920. Abbott was issued with the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
After the war, at the home of his father Dr C T Abbott at Clunes his wife Bessie, on the 29th February 1920, gave birth to a son. He came to the attention of the newspapers in 1936 when he opposed the Hobart council in building the new Southport Bush Nursing Hospital. The family then returned to Hobart where he began a long and successful career as a private medical practitioner. He was also the Hobart city medical officer and the chief port quarantine officer. He was the founder of the College of General Practioners in Tasmania. His younger sibling Charles Abbott MP was Attorney General of South Australia from 1944 to 1946. Nigel Basil Gresley Abbott died in Hobart on 30th October 1978.
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