George
Abercromby (1706-1776) was baptized 23 August 1706
at Fordyce Parish, Banffshire, Scotland, the sixth son of Sir James
Abercromby (1668-1734), 2nd baronet of Birkenbog, and Mary Gordon.
George was trained as a physician. He settled
in Mexico by 1746 after being in Jamaica in 1730 and Holland in 1744.
In Mexico he failed at mining, then became a merchant while occasionally
practicing medicine, which was made difficult because of the requirement
for a license from the Spanish government.
In Mexico George married the only daughter of
John Ingleby, the eldest son of a Yorkshire squire. John Ingleby had
left Yorkshire and after many wanderings, like his son-in-law, became
a member of the small group of British expatriates in the "ancient
city of Mexico."
George had four children in Mexico: Alexander
(1747-?) who became a Catholic monk; Mary Luisa (1748-?) who was raised
in a convent in Mexico after her mother died in 1754; John (1752-?)
who was called “Jacky” and became a captain in the Spanish army; and
Robert (1753-1763).
Two years before his death, in his last letter
to his brother, Sir Robert, George wrote from Mexico, "having allways
in mind dulcis amor Patria [sweet love fatherland] and tho
divine Providence has disposed my lot in these American Regions, yet
must allways acknowledge that of all the countrys have seen, Europe
is the best, & exceeds all other parts of our Globe."
George died in Mexico in December 1776.