Michael Scurr, a volunteer at Britain’s National Archives in Kew, finds an Exeter printing of the Declaration of Independence attached to the papers of an 18th-century Royal Navy officer and confirms it is one of 11 known copies and the only one outside the US.Researchers say the broadside was printed in Exeter, New Hampshire between July 16 and 19, 1776 and was carried with correspondence from the capture of the American privateer Dalton after a chase off the Iberian coast on Christmas Eve 1776; the papers include orders signed by John Hancock.Archivists and historians say the discovery illuminates how Revolutionary texts moved across the Atlantic, offers new evidence on privateering and imprisonment, and raises questions about the
Dalton’s diverse crew, including
Daniel Cottle, who vanishes from records after capture.