Rare Copy of 'Declaration' Doc, Discovered by Accident in the U.K., Was Seized 250 Years Ago

We continue to share many tales with readers about all things America 250. It's a journey that will last through the waning days of 2026. But there might not be a cooler story this week about the Declaration of Independence than this one.

For the first time ever, a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence has been discovered outside the U.S,, and it happened by accident, by all accounts:

LONDON — A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence lost for 250 years has been discovered in London, where it is the only known example of its kind outside the U.S.
Printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, just days after the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, the document was intended to spread news of American independence throughout the American colonies.
The early copy remained tucked away in Britain’s National Archives until a volunteer cataloging records from the American Revolutionary War came across it in May among the papers of Royal Navy captains.

Wait... how did a British naval captain get tangled up in one of America's founding documents?

...Britain’s National Archives said in a news release Thursday...[that t]he Declaration was among a collection of papers the Royal Navy seized in December 1776 after it captured the American privateer vessel the Dalton, it said.
“It was an amazing addition to the story of the Dalton and the many other privateers that fought the British at sea,” Amanda Bevan, who leads the National Archives’ project cataloging Royal Navy correspondence from the American Revolution, said in an email Friday.

As Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) would readily explain to you, privateers were legal pirates, issued letters of marque and reprisal, that is, commissioned by the U.S. government to attack and take the cargo of enemy ships on its behalf. Lee re-introduced a bill in 2025 that would revive the practice (ended after the War of 1812) in order to let Americans aid in decimating suspected, Caribbean drug cartel vessels.

'Who We Are As a People': JD Vance Shares the Meaning of America 250 in NY Harbor

The NBC News story linked above added more about the sheaf of documents they just found:

The seized papers also included the Dalton’s commission, which granted it permission from the Continental Congress to attack British vessels, and other official orders explaining the rules of warfare for privateers.
Bevan said it was common for such documents to be read aloud to crews to reinforce discipline.

Now, how did the Dalton fare in the end, and what's the reason a copy of the Declaration of Independence could be quietly lost for over two centuries?

On Christmas Eve 1776, the 18-gun vessel commanded by Eleazer Johnson was pursued for seven hours by the 64-gun HMS Raisonnable, commanded by Capt. Thomas Fitzherbert of the Royal Navy, before it was captured off Portugal. Johnson and his crew of about 120 men were imprisoned in Plymouth, England.
The seized Declaration, listed simply as “another paper” in the Royal Navy inventory, remained buried in British archives for centuries. It was eventually uncovered by Michael Scurr, a retired insurance executive who has volunteered at the National Archives for 11 years.

Back to the recovery of the Declaration copy. The BBC picks up the trail here, reporting on the shocked first reaction by Scurr, to seeing the historic paper's contents:

Volunteer Michael Scurr, recalled feeling butterflies in his stomach after he opened up the paper and realised what it was.
"I called over to my boss and said, 'I think you need to come and have a look at this'," he told BBC News.

And just how rare is the copy?

Dr Graham Moore from The National Archives said the discovery is "one of the rarest forms of the Declaration we know about", adding that it was not meant to be preserved due to the intention to distribute it quickly.
"After the original printing on 4 July, the news of the Declaration is travelling fast around North America and its being reprinted as it reaches each successive colony," he told BBC News.
"The copy we have is one of only 11 surviving from the first ones printed in New Hampshire."

So don't let anyone convince you that there aren't any treasures left to be found out in the world. You never know what might be secretly hiding in plain sight due to the hurried filing habits of bureaucrats from some bygone era. Treasure hunters, take heart!

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