Abbey was born at Whilton, a Northamptonshire village, on 22 December 1785. In his youth, he was an apprentice for James and David Davis, and later for Hugh Russel after 1818, both reputable organ builders in their day. In 1826 Abbey went to Paris, on the invitation of Sébastien Érard, the celebrated harp and pianoforte maker, to work upon an organ which Érard had designed, and which he sent to the Exhibition of the Productions of National Industry in 1827, and also to build an organ for the Convent of the Legion of Honour, at St. Denis. He also built an organ from Érard's design for the chapel of the Tuileries, which, however, had only a short existence, being destroyed in the Revolution of 1830.