Britain's National Archives: Copy of Declaration of Independence found in papers of captured US ship

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https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/rare-copy-declaration-independence-found-uk-national-archives-134427039

Copy of Declaration of Independence found in papers of captured US ship

Michael Scurr, a volunteer at Britain’s National Archives, has discovered a rare early copy of the Declaration of Independence

ByDANICA KIRKA Associated Press
July 2, 2026, 4:03 PM

LONDON -- Michael Scurr has been volunteering at Britain’s National Archives for the last 11 years, spending his Thursday mornings painstakingly cataloging documents for the benefit of future researchers.

Then one day last May the retired insurance executive made a discovery of his own while sifting through the letters of an 18th-century Royal Navy captain. There, attached to a report on the capture of the American privateer Dalton on Christmas Eve 1776, was an enclosure identified only as “another paper.” Carefully unfolding the document, Scurr stopped when he saw the word “Declaration” printed across the top.

“I thought, oh, right, OK, this is definitely a Declaration of Independence,'' he told The Associated Press. “How exciting is this?’’

Researchers at the National Archives have since identified the document as a rare early copy of America’s founding document, printed just days after the original was signed on July 4, 1776, to spread the news that 13 rebellious North American colonies had severed ties with Britain.

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