Shows US Founding Father may have contributed to a forgotten shipwreck narrative

New research from the University of Birmingham suggests Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, could have contributed to a forgotten shipwreck narrative. Based on studies of Franklin's early life as a printer, Dr Hazel Wilkinson claims there are clues which provide information about Benjamin Franklin's activities during his first visit to London as an eighteen-year-old printer. Her research suggests a previously unobserved connection between the young Franklin and Richard Castelman, an English theatre manager with an intriguing past. Richard Castelman was an English trader who survived a shipwreck in 1705, on a voyage from Bermuda to America. His ship ran aground on the North Carolina shore, where he was rescued. He travelled to Philadelphia and stayed there for four months before returning to England. He gave up the seafaring life, and became the treasurer of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.