The Imprint

[Headless2]

Hillgrove, once a feverish mining town, hectic in the flush of prosperity, has fallen upon evil days. Those optimists who are still clinging to what is left of the wreck, confident that good times will return, are paying dearly for their faith.

Baker's Creek mine has given up work, and the machinery is being dismantled. The more tenacious of the local residents tried to form a syndicate to buy or lease the property to keep the mine at work, but failed to come to terms with the owners.

Any building that will stand removal is being brought eighteen miles to Armidale, where there is a great shortage of houses, and re-erected there. One speculator bought an hotel which had been delicensed in Hillgrove, brought it to Armidale and made it into half a dozen cottages.

When the houses are taken from Hillgrove the chimneys remain standing like ghosts of former prosperity, and the township now has the appearance of having been under shellfire. Where were once houses are now heaps of debris and gaunt crumbling chimneys.

Which leads us to our next interesting story.



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

April 27 1922:— Hillgrove has been the scene of a number of mysterious happenings. One of the most remarkable has now come more directly under public notice. For over 20 years, and despite every effort to efface it, the imprint of a woman’s hand, wrist and arm, perfect in all details, has existed on a window of a hotel premises occupied by Mrs Williams, and which will, in three weeks time; be pulled down and removed to Armidale, the purchaser being Mr G C Mann.



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

This remarkable phenomenon was known to a few, but not generally. Since the building was vacated, however, the news has spread, and the scene has been visited by people from all parts, who agree that they have never seen a more remarkable spectacle.

The mysterious hand, furthermore, with its gesture of appeal, seems to possess some magnetic fascination for all who gaze upon it – a curious feature the most sceptical can test for themselves.



To be continued….

[Headless2]

There is no question that the original imprint was made by a live human being, and a woman at that who possessed a most shapely hand. Every line of the fingers, palm, and wrist is clearly shown, and any effort to remove a single line seems to only make it more indelible. Close examination reveals that the imprint is not in the glass, but on it.



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[Headless2]

Naturally there has been considerable conjecture as to its origin, and the result of close inquiry shows that some twenty years ago a young married woman was found dead in the room, from an unusual cause. It is believed the imprint was made by her hand when endeavouring to attract attention.



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

Furthermore, it is definitely asserted that the imprint only appeared on the window after the dead body was found. The room has long since been known as ghost-haunted, but some material explanation may be possible from scientific investigation. Later the window will be brought into Armidale. Great care will be taken with its removal, as a peculiar happening is said to befall the person who breaks it.

Is there any truth to this strange story?

Let’s find out more about the mysterious imprint.



To be continued…..

[KANACKI]

Hello headless amazing story. i heard other stories images on glass. And on tiles and concrete floor

Another case was in Spain.

The Bélmez Faces or the Faces of Bélmez is an alleged paranormal phenomenon in a private house in Spain. The phenomenon started in 1971 when residents claimed images of faces appeared in the concrete floor of the house.

Most claim it was scam but it appears none can replicate what was done on the concrete floor?

Kanacki

[KANACKI]

It is thought to be the residue of a person who was sitting at the entrance of Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank when the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima. It is also known as Human Shadow of Death or simply the Blast Shadow. It was photographed by Yo(sorry we don't allow swearing on the forum)o Matsushige.

you can see the ghost imprint below.

Kanacki

[Headless2]

Hi KANACKI

Thanks for the stories, I’ll definitely check them out. Both photographs of the imprints are very interesting.

[Headless2]

Before we continue, Armidale / Hillgrove are located about half way between Sydney and Brisbane.

The town of Hillgrove was established in 1884 and mushroomed in the 1890s after the expanding production of gold mines. At its peak in about 1898, the town’s population was close to 3,000, similar to that of nearby Armidale.

Hillgrove then had four churches, six hotels, two schools, school of arts, a hospital, several banks, a stock exchange, a court house, police station, a recreation ground, a technical college and a cordial factory.

Can we link a Mrs Williams to a hotel in Hillgrove?



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

The home of the mysterious hand print was the Sydney Hotel which sat on the corner of Bracken and Brereton Streets, Hillgrove, directly opposite two other pubs, the Commercial and Tattersalls. Of the three corner pubs, the Commercial was the more substantial, architecturally – a two storey structure, while the other two were single storey inns. The Sydney Hotel, however, was the more profitable, a favourite with the hard drinking miners.

The Sydney Hotel was established on the south west corner of Bracken and Brereton Streets by Sam and Mary Williams in 1892. During the 20 short years it traded, the pub was owned and entirely operated by the Williams family.



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[Headless2]

Sam Williams was 31 years of age, his wife Mary 36, when they bought the license from Michael Spruhan in February 1892, to establish the pub, when the gold mining town was commercially at its peak. Sam and Mary mistakenly had confidence in the future of the settlement, being also the major shareholders in a gold mine.

They were not to know that within 30 years the bustling township would be on its knees. The Williams family were large property-owners in Hillgrove, and must have been nervous when the mines starting winding down.

The family’s good fortunes turned for the worst with the death of one of their boys at the pub in 1908. The following year Mary was left a widow, and managing a failing pub, after the death of her husband, Sam at the age of 61 in December 1909. Sam, beside Mary, also left behind six daughters, and a son.



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[Headless2]

Following Sydney Hotel shutting shop in April 1922, only one of the other two pubs on the opposite corners remained. That also was not to last. The Tattersall’s Hotel closed a couple of months later. By the end of 1922, a township that once boasted six pubs had none.

The Williams family packed-up, and moved into Armidale where Mary continued in the hotel business. Mary took over the running of Armidale’s Grand Hotel in Rusden Street during 1923, where she remained as host until 1933. In February 1933 she took control of the St Kilda Hotel, in the same street, and died at the age of 88 in 1944, while still the licensee.

So….who left the alleged imprint on the window?



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

We know the hotel closed in April 1922, also, according to the April 27th, 1922 article, the woman’s hand print remained there for over 20 years, that gives us a time frame of the death between the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Question is….was there a death at the Sydney Hotel, Hillgrove in that time period?



To be continued…..

[Headless2]

Death:— October 7, 1898, a married woman staying the night in Hillgrove, with her husband Charles, a tailor, when she was discovered dead the following morning.

Could this be the woman we’ve been looking for?



To be continued…..