The Nuthead Press William and Dinah Nuthead

of hand, and that this Deponent did promiss to finish the same by Twelve of the Clock the
next day if in case this Depont had the assistance of a Joyner, which said Joyner did the
Wooden Worke and was paid for the same in Money; afterwards the said Coll Darnall &
Mr. Richard Smith came again to this Deponts house and Required him to perform his
promiss, to which this Depont made Answer that the Press & Letters were none of his and
therefore could not complye therewith without Order, and that the said Coll Darnall & Mr.
Smith were pressing & Urgent for this Deponts printing the said Warrants, but this Depon-
ent did not print the same and further saith not.......

Whereupon it was Ordered by advice in Councill, that the Printer hereafter presume to
print noething but blank bills & Bonds, without leave from his Exncy or the further Order
of this Board."¹

It is not perfectly clear what Nuthead meant by his disclaimer of owner-
ship of the "press and letters," unless it be that he intended to convey to
his importunate clients the idea that his equipment was theoretically the
property of the government as long as he continued to use it under a gov-
ernment license. Later it will be brought out that, unlike many of the colo-
nial pioneers of typography, he was the actual owner of his press, and that
at his death it passed as personal property into the possession of his widow.
The importance of his deposition, however, lies not in any question of the
ownership of the press, but in the testimony which it bears to the fact that
there was in Maryland in 1693 a printing press in such customary use that
demands might be made upon it for work "to be done immediately out of
hand," and that such service under normal circumstances might be ren-
dered.

In April of this year 1693, William Nuthead and two others were named
in a warrant which directed them to search the lodging room and closet of
Sir Thomas Lawrence for certain papers which they were ordered to seize,
seal in a bag and bring straightway to the Governor for perusal. In so far
as the record indicates, the issue involved had nothing to do with the story
of Nuthead's life as a printer; it is likely that he was named for this duty
simply because of a probable familiarity with the papers which the Gover-
nor wished to examine. Doubtless our printer man was thankful that he
was not the person designated to make the search of the baronet's pockets
which was ordered at the same time.² In October of the year 1694, William
Nuthead was one of the signers of the petition addressed to the Governor
by the citizens of St. Mary's, protesting against the removal of the capital
from its ancient site to the settlement on the Severn which later was to be
known as Annapolis.⁸ In the act of the September session of 1694 for paying

¹Council Proceedings, October 14, 1693, Archives of Maryland, 20:33 and 34.
² Council Proceedings, April 8, 1693, Archives of Maryland, 8: 501.
³U. H. J., October 13, 1694, Archives of Maryland, 19:75.

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