Peter Fector was a penniless 16-year-old when he arrived in Dover from Rotterdam to become apprentice-companion to his aged, ailing distant relative, Isaac Minet. He was never allowed to forget that without the family connection this training would have cost his father a £600 premium and himself seven years unpaid work. From the start, under the critically watchful eye of Isaac Minet's son, William, he was an ideal pupil. William clearly felt responsible for his young protege and Kept a stern hold over him - writing whenever he felt the need to complain about his friends or behaviour. Peter was spirited, ambitious, hard-working, eager to learn - but with a shrewd respect for his employers, and disarming readiness to accept correction. "I hope by the grace of God that I'll prove to be an honest and diligent servant and always try to do my endeavour and submit to your good directions. From the start he was at loggerheads with the company clerk, Mr R. Colbran, and doubted his honesty. In fact, only three years later he wrote to William saying "I am as fully capable in this business as Mr. Colbran in all respects He weathered these daily confrontations and the discipline imposed by the Minets because, above all, he believed in himself and his abilities. Every morning before breakfast he rose with commendable enthusiasm and the confidence of youth to go down to the pier heads. He chatted with pilots at the Look Out (the site of the present Sealink building) and old seadogs at the Boom House to discover which vessels had passed that night. The day was then spent between the office and Customs House, arranging ship clearance. Far from hitting the high spots of Dover's night life, Peter's evenings were usually spent at home in Strond Street, playing draughts with old Isaac Minet and "cozen Molly." With his natural exuberance he began to take unilateral decisions which irritated his elders.

By the time that Isaac Minet died in 1745, Peter Fector, aged 20, owned one third of the business! His mind was not entirely on work - though even his love affair with Mary Minet, daughter of the Rev. John Minet, rector of Eythorne, and grand-daughter of Isaac, was not without its commercial advantages! The company finally became Minet and Fector in 1764 with Peter, the one time apprentice, at the helm of Dover's first merchant bank. Peter Fector lived to the age of 91 and was buried beside his wife in the Parish church of Eythorne in 1814.

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