William Nuthead was Maryland's first printer. He first came to the English colony of Virginia in 1682. By 1684 he moved to St. Mary's City, Maryland, and operated a printing press. Nuthead and his wife, Dinah, printed a variety of documents during their time at St. Mary's City. Although she could not read or write, Dinah helped William operate the printing press.

After William's death in 1695, Dinah received a license from the colonial government to print documents. This made Dinah the first licensed woman printer in the English colonies. When the capital of Maryland moved to Annapolis in 1695, Dinah moved her family and printing press there also.

We know about William Nuthead from documents that he printed, from government records, and from artifacts found during archaeological digs at St. Mary's City. These digs help us know what the original buildings may have looked like and how William and Dinah may have lived at St. Mary's City in the 1600s.