{"id":15957,"date":"2013-05-28T00:11:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T04:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.synchrosecrets.com\/synchrosecrets\/?p=15957"},"modified":"2013-06-30T23:09:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T03:09:00","slug":"lucky-hugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957","title":{"rendered":"Lucky Hugh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded? - Strange as it Seems (2010)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m29PQBLwF4E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If you scour the Internet in search of unusual coincidences, sooner or later you\u2019re likely to run across a story \u2013 or make that stories \u2013 about Hugh Williams. These are seafaring coincidences that span nearly 200 years. \u00a0Here is one version:<\/p>\n<p>A vessel went down in the Menai Strait off the coast of Wales on December 5, 1664. All 81 passengers were lost with the exception of a man named Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>On December 5, 1785, 121 years later, another ship sank in the Menai Strait, and again all of the passengers drowned except one \u2013 Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>Move ahead to December 5, 1820 and another ship, a 25-passenger vessel, sank in the Menai Strait. And once again there was a sole\u00a0 survivor. You guessed it, his name was Hugh Williams. \u00a0We could call him the unsinkable Hugh Williams. And notice the month and day are the same each time, as well as the survivor.<\/p>\n<p>Where did this story originate and is there any truth to it? Or is it \u00a0just an old maritime tale that has been passed down over time?<\/p>\n<p>The first reference to the unsinkable Hugh Williams is found \u00a0on pages 281-282 of <em>North Wales, Including its Scenery, Antiquities and Customs, <\/em>\u00a01804, by Rev. William Bingley. It describes a Hugh Williams who escaped from a shipwreck on December 5, 1785.<\/p>\n<p>A version of the three-part story appears as a <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=jbYHAAAAQAAJ&amp;pg=PA155&amp;dq=%22hugh+williams%22+menai&amp;ei=9xc5SfCLMoPMyQS85OB1#v=onepage&amp;q=%22hugh%20williams%22%20menai&amp;f=false\">footnote on page 155<\/a> of<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=jbYHAAAAQAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\">Cliffe\u2019s Book of North Wales<\/a><\/em>, published in 1851. \u00a0 The story includes the\u00a0sinkings\u00a0on December 5, 1664 and 1785, with Hugh Williams, the only survivor. \u00a0The\u00a0date of the 1820 sinking, however, is Aug. 5, not Dec. 15. But\u00a0Hugh Williams is still listed as the sole\u00a0survivor.<\/p>\n<p>The footnote goes on to mention that, \u201c<em>Again on May 20th, 1842, a boat was crossing the Menai, near the spot where the above catastrophes happened, when she upset with 15 passengers, \u00a0and all perished save one; but in\u00a0this\u00a0instance the name of the survivor was Richard Thomas.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another book,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=LLcHAAAAQAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=Francis+Coghlan&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=Hl3oSBA73W&amp;sig=f014U__G8ov6TCbIgS-tQdvqMWM&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=mVUEUNOjDu-y0AHy0uDyBw&amp;ved=0CFoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&amp;q=Francis%20Coghlan&amp;f=false\">Guide to North Wales<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0by Francis Coghlan, was\u00a0published in 1860. It repeats the story of the three shipwrecks, and includes the August date for the third sinking.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, an English writer decided this would make a better story if it was brought closer to home. So here\u2019s another version:<\/p>\n<p>On December 5th 1660, a ship sank in the straights of Dover and the only survivor was named Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>On 5th December 1767, another ship sank in the same waters and 127 passengers and crew members died. The only survivor was a Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>On August 8, 1820, a picnic boat capsized on the Thames. There was one survivor &#8211; Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>On 10th July 1940, a British trawler was destroyed by a German mine. Only two men survived, one man and his nephew, and they were both named Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>Notice how the Dec. 5 date only occurs twice and the years vary from the earlier version, and the clever twist when there are two survivors. Of course, they are both Hugh Williams.<\/p>\n<p>What are we to make of it all? It seems there is a basis for at least the Hugh Williams story. But it seems that the Dec. 5 on the 1820 sinking probably doesn\u2019t ring true. So the version in the video probably has been altered to make the story seem more mysterious.<\/p>\n<p>But how mysterious is this story?<\/p>\n<p>Coghlan\u2019s account of the three shipwrecks ends with the comment: \u201cThis extraordinary\u00a0coincidence\u00a0can only be explained by the circumstance that the name of Hugh\u00a0Williams\u00a0is very common in these parts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blogger Rick Spillman, who gathered some of these references, not only notes that in Wales Hugh Williams is a common name, but that the Menai Strait\u00a0 \u201cis a particularly nasty body of water with strong currents and rough seas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the video asks if the Hugh Williams saga is the strangest coincidence ever recorded, the answer is probably not. But it\u2019s a good one, a classic, and historical.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you scour the Internet in search of unusual coincidences, sooner or later you\u2019re likely to run across a story \u2013 or make that stories \u2013 about Hugh Williams. These are seafaring coincidences that span nearly 200 years. \u00a0Here is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-synchronicity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you scour the Internet in search of unusual coincidences, sooner or later you\u2019re likely to run across a story \u2013 or make that stories \u2013 about Hugh Williams. These are seafaring coincidences that span nearly 200 years. \u00a0Here is &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Welcome to The Mystical Underground\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/trishmacgregor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Trish and Rob\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Trish and Rob\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Trish and Rob\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dafc2c80b2d103bab7e8264483160918\"},\"headline\":\"Lucky Hugh\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957\"},\"wordCount\":658,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"synchronicity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957\",\"name\":\"Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?p=15957#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lucky Hugh\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome to The Mystical Underground\",\"description\":\"SYNCHRONICITY\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Welcome to The Mystical Underground\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/shift1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/shift1.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"Welcome to The Mystical Underground\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/trishmacgregor\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/trishandrobmacgregor\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dafc2c80b2d103bab7e8264483160918\",\"name\":\"Trish and Rob\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Trish and Rob\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themysticalunderground.com\\\/?author=5\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground","og_description":"If you scour the Internet in search of unusual coincidences, sooner or later you\u2019re likely to run across a story \u2013 or make that stories \u2013 about Hugh Williams. These are seafaring coincidences that span nearly 200 years. \u00a0Here is &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957","og_site_name":"Welcome to The Mystical Underground","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/trishmacgregor","article_published_time":"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00","author":"Trish and Rob","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Trish and Rob","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957"},"author":{"name":"Trish and Rob","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dafc2c80b2d103bab7e8264483160918"},"headline":"Lucky Hugh","datePublished":"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957"},"wordCount":658,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["synchronicity"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957","url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957","name":"Lucky Hugh - Welcome to The Mystical Underground","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-28T04:11:22+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-01T03:09:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?p=15957#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lucky Hugh"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/","name":"Welcome to The Mystical Underground","description":"SYNCHRONICITY","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#organization","name":"Welcome to The Mystical Underground","url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/shift1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/shift1.jpg","width":700,"height":768,"caption":"Welcome to The Mystical Underground"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/trishmacgregor","https:\/\/instagram.com\/trishandrobmacgregor"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dafc2c80b2d103bab7e8264483160918","name":"Trish and Rob","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d20cd13f9fba2c96ecb485d026ae626dff9793f92d1becd3eb1cfc20bee1695?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Trish and Rob"},"url":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/?author=5"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15957"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16031,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957\/revisions\/16031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themysticalunderground.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}