Even in the height of the agency in the mid-1620s, less than ten Englishmen resided in all of Persia. In 1646 and 1648 the factory was dismal, and lists of employed factors put the total Persian agency at four men, not including household servants.97 In both years, the records show that the Persian trade lay in the hands of Robert Heynes, Samuel Wilton, John Lewis, and Thomas Best. When men died, it left the factory severely depleted.