Abraham Ivar's petition Abraham Ivar, a 71 year old widower, requests to be admitted to the Hospital. His father was Daniel Ivar, and his grandfather, D Ivar, was originally from Normandy but had to flee to avoid persecution. Abraham was a sailor in the British Navy and fought during the American War of Independence. He then became a silk weaver and worked for a long time for Messrs Massu and more recently for Messrs Ballance. However, his eyesight became so poor that he had to stop working a year prior to the petition being made. The petition is signed by Pierre Fontaneau, T Ballance & Son, J H Boyd and bears Abraham Massu's mark. Jan 1831