Physician.
Born on a farm near Stockton on 10 January 1890, son of Albert Edward Abbott (1861-1950) and Annie Matilda Brown (c1871-1960), brother of Albert Clifford Abbott, he moved to Winnipeg in 1907 and attended Wesley College. In 1916, he graduated as the gold medalist in Medicine. During the First World War, he served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and received the Military Cross in 1917.
He did postgraduate work at the Winnipeg General Hospital and the Women’s Hospital in New York City. He co-founded, with his brother, the Abbott Clinic in Winnipeg. He was a member of the teaching staff of the University of Manitoba and the St. Boniface Hospital, retiring in 1957 as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
On 10 June 1925, he married Olive Mary Roberts (1900-1985) at the Central Congregational Church. They subsequently had two children: William Edward “Bill” Abbott (1927-2019, husband of Nora Anne McLeod) and Elizabeth “Liz” Abbott (c1932-2020, wife of Orest Scott). The family had a cottage on an island in Lake of the Woods. An ardent hunter and sports fan, he was one of the founders of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Football Club and served as club physician for many years, and a founder of the Winnipeg Winter Club. He was President of the Junior Section of the Winnipeg Board of Trade.
He died at the Grace Hospital on 2 January 1975.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion Business College Building / Mall Plaza Apartments / Abbott Clinic (274 Osborne Street North, Winnipeg)
Birth registrations [William Frederick Abbott, Olive Mary Roberts], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registration [William Frederick Abbott, Olive Mary Roberts], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Abbott - Roberts,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 June 1925, page 9.
“Early settler, church worker dies at 89 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 December 1950, page 5.
“Nora Anne McLeod and William Edward Abbott exchange vows at Kenora,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 1952, page 12.
Obituary [Annie Matilda Abbott], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 March 1960, page 28.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 4 January 1975, page 37.
Obituary [Olive Mary Abbott], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 June 1985, page 37.
Obituary [W. E. Abbott], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 November 2019.
Obituary [Elizabeth Scott], Gilbart Funeral Home.
We thank Fred Abbott for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 September 2026
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