Born in Southampton in the first quarter of the year 1891, the son of John Abbott (1862-1896) and Catherine Louisa Welch (1861-?). He had five know brothers and sisters, Blanche Louisa, Hilda Daisy, Percival Frederick, Florence and May. His father died at the age of 34 and his mother remarried with Frederick John Brown a ship's steward.

When he signed on to Titanic he was unmarried. William Revell, husband to his sister Blanche, was also aboard as a steward.  Both men persihed in the disaster. Ernest's body, if recovered, was never identified.