John Abercrombie was born in Aberdeen, the son of a parish minister. He graduated MA from Marischal College and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, receiving his MD in 1803. He undertook postgraduate study at St George's Hospital, London, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1804. Abercrombie practised as a general practitioner in Nicolson Street, Edinburgh.
