Francis Preserved Abbott was born in Derby, England on August 12, 1799. He was a clockmaker in Derby and later in Manchaster. In 1845 he went to Hobart, Tasmania and was assistant at the Rossbank Observatory until its closure in 1854. Afterwords he made astronomical and meteorological observations in a private laboratory in Hobart. He became FRAS in 1860. Abbott died in Hobart on February 18, 1883.