CAN A NAME GUARANTEE YOUR SURVIVAL


Your name can say a lot about you. But can it save your life? If it's Hugh Williams, it just might. On December 5th 1664 a ship sank crossing the Menai strait off Wales. Out of 80 passengers, only one survived. He was Hugh Williams. In 1785, on the same day of the year, another ship sank in the same strip of water, (though other accounts suggest it happened off the Kent coast). The lone survivor was a Hugh Williams. Also, 75 years later, in 1860, it happened again; a ship crossing the Menai Strait - all 25 passengers drowning bar one, Hugh Williams.

On August 5th 1820, a picnic boat capsized on the River Thames, all on board dying with the exception of a five year old boy, (no prizes for guessing his name). During the Second World War, a British trawler was reportedly destroyed by a German mine on July 10th 1940. Just two men are said to have survived: a man and his nephew - both named Hugh Williams!