Official Business: Protested bills

This book, compiled by the Clerk of the Pentice, mainly consists of copies of bills of exchange protested before him as notary public, with notes of the protests and the reasons for non-payment. There are also copies of instruments of protest made before him, by which masters of ships or merchants protested against all concerned all damage and losses due to storms at sea or to failure to observe the terms of charter-parties or trade agreements. The book also contains copies of a number of certificates from the Mayor, attested by the Clerk of the Pentice, that specified cargoes have been laded in the port of Chester, that the goods are English and belong to merchants of Chester, who are named, and that Chester is free from pestilence. A small number of bonds and other obligations, examined by the Clerk of the Pentice, are also entered here