William Hunter (publisher)

William Hunter, Sr.
BornJune 1, 1700
Yorktown, York County, Colony of Virginia, English America
DiedAugust 14, 1761(1761-08-14) (aged 61)
Williamsburg, Colony of Virginia, British America
Occupations
  • Colonial printer
  • Printing press shop foreman
Years active1742-1761
Era
Known for
Notable work
PredecessorWilliam Parks
Successor
PartnerElizabeth Reynolds
Children1
Parents
  • William Thomas Sempill Hunter Sr. (1682-1742)
  • Elizabeth Cunningham (1680-1746)
RelativesMatrilineage
Deputy Postmaster General of British America
In office
August 10, 1753 – August 14, 1761
Serving with Benjamin Franklin (1753–)
Preceded byPosition reestablished
Succeeded byBenjamin Franklin

William Hunter Sr. (1700–1761) was a Colonial printer and publisher for the Colony of Virginia in British America during the reign of George II of Great Britain.[1] William Hunter was of Scottish lineage firmly established by his parents William Thomas Sempill Hunter Sr. from Clackmannanshire, Scotland and Elizabeth Cunningham from Corsehill, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Hunter was a resolute bachelor during adulthood along the Virginia Peninsula.[2] He had a natural son William Hunter Jr. as an out of wedlock arrangement which excluded a marital union with Elizabeth Reynolds a resident of Colonial Williamsburg.[3][4]

Proprietor of Colonial Williamsburg Print Shop

The Colonial Williamsburg Print Shop was built by William Parks in 1736. The colonial American timber-framed structure was recognized as the first letterpress printing establishments for the Colony of Virginia in the 18th century.

Colonial Williamsburg Shop at Duke of Gloucester Street

In 1743, William Hunter was apprenticed as a compositor with William Parks. By 1749, Hunter was delegated as shop foreman for the Colonial Williamsburg Print Shop. In 1750, upon the interment of William Parks, the Colonial Williamsburg publishing operations were lateral to William Hunter acquiring the typesetting talents of John Holt and a brother John Henry Hunter (1714–1774).

The print shop would persevere the publishing of the Colony of Virginia laws, House of Burgesses of Virginia journals, Virginia Almanack, and Virginia Gazette reasonably appeasing the social conscience of the governing British Crown during 18th century loyalism in British America.

The Hunter print shop sustained cordial relations with Colonial Williamsburg clergy publishing journals and sermons for ministers as John Camm, Samuel Davies, and George Whitefield. The clerical relations would flourish during the House of Burgesses litigating the Two Penny Act which eventually coerced Patrick Henry deliberating the ethical dilemma of the Parson's Cause of 1763.[5]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Rawson, David. "William Hunter, Sr". Index of Virginia Printing, 1683-1820. Richmond, Virginia: Library of Virginia.
  2. ↑ Gardner, Andrew G. "Courtship, Sex, and the Single Colonist". Colonial Williamsburg ~ John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
  3. ↑ "Elizabeth Reynolds House - Reconstructed - Colonial Williamsburg" [Williamsburg, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)]. HMDB.org. The Historical Marker Database.
  4. ↑ Rawson, David. "William Hunter (ca. 1730–1761)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities.
  5. ↑ Kukla, Jon. "Two Penny Acts (1755, 1758)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities.

Franklin Papers Archives regarding William Hunter in British America

Bibliography

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