Michiel Servaesz Nouts, born in Delft, went to live in Amsterdam in 1656. In 1659 he was appointed carillonneur for the tower of Amsterdam's Zuiderkerk, or South Church, as well as for the dome of the town hall. The set of bells that was to be hung in the town's hall's dome was not, however, completed until 1665. From that time on, Nouts changed his name to Nuyts, possibly in order to be associated with the wealthy ruling family of that name. Nouts was responsible for the unkeep of a number of clocks in the city: in the Stock Exchange tower, and the towers of Roodenpoort, of the Herring Packers and Montelbaan.