The Ancestry of Cometan

Cometanic ancestry is a major component of Cometanology and the study of the ancestry of Cometan is split across nine major maternal and paternal ancestral lines, some of which are traceable back to medieval and ancient times. Ancestors of Cometan are classified as any individuals born before his grandparents. The classification 'notable ancestor of Cometan' is given to individuals of noteworthiness in the public sphere to whom Cometan is blood-related.

​

The history of Cometan's study of his ancestry is split into distinct phases, called ancestral investigation phases. The first of these began in March 2019 and ended around July 2020 when Cometan was twenty until he was twenty-two. At the beginning of Phase One, a much greater deal more was known about Cometan's maternal ancestry than his paternal ancestry. However, by the end of Phase One, the knowledge of his paternal ancestry balanced out with his maternal ancestry.  In the modern era, Cometan's ancestors held a variety of occupations, most notably wheelwrights, farmers, builders, undertakers, firefighters, and WW1 infantry. From Phase One, Cometan discovered some notable ancestors including poets, a long series of Welsh monarchs, English knights, and members of the British aristocracy. Phase One also included Cometan's investigation of his genealogical background.

Cometanica was established by Cometan during Phase One as the publisher that would handle the publication of all Cometanic ancestral materials, including documents and photographs. Cometan's Ancestral Investigation Phase Two officially commenced in October 2020 when Cometan discovered that a portion of his maternal ancestors in the Moon family had emigrated to the United States of America after converting to the Latter-day Saint movement. Other key themes of Phase Two are expected to include the revelation of more details about the notable ancestors of Cometan as well as the identification of more of Cometan's medieval and ancient ancestors.

Paternal ancestry

Once the lesser known branch of Cometanic ancestry, knowledge of Cometan's paternal ancestry has expanded so that it can be traced back through to medieval and even into ancient times. The four major paternal ancestral lines include the Hardacre family, the Taylor family, the McKearney family, and the Stringfellow family. The Taylor family is the one to which Cometan owes his birth name of Brandon Reece Taylor.

Maternal ancestry

The maternal ancestry of Cometan is also split across four major ancestral lines including the Cottam family, the Turner family the Prescott family and the Warbrick family. It is the Warbrick family to which Cometan directly belongs maternally due to his mother's birth name being Janet Louise Warbrick. Greater details are known of the lives of Cometan's less closer maternal ancestors due to Cometan's access more records, particularly his grandfather's lineage.

Cottam family

The Cottam family was a working class family originating from the county of Lancashire, specifically in and around the City of Preston, before settling in the village of Higher Walton. This is where Richard Cottam met and married Jane Turner; these were one of two of Cometan's maternal great-grandparents. The Cottam family suffered a tragedy in 1942 when Jane Cottam died of tubercluosis when her daughter Hilda (Cometan's grandmother) was just four years old. Richard Cottam also passed away when Hilda was twenty, leaving her grandmother to care for Hilda's wellbeing.

Hardacre family

The Hardacres were an English working class family with a clear lineage tracing back to the mid-16th century. Although the Hardacres would come to settle in the county of Lancashire, their ancestors originate from the village of Kildwick in North Yorkshire. Richard Hardacre, a member of this family, married Edith McKerney in the early 20th century. In Higher Walton village, the Hardacres were in frequent contact with the Cottam family although they did not know then that they would one day share a single common descendant in Cometan.

Lancaster family

The Lancasters were an English family of landlords with a clear lineage tracing back to the early 19th century and to the village of Whittle-le-Woods. When John Lancaster, the head of the family, died his daughter, Elizabeth, took over the running of the Royal Oak pub in Brindle. She went on to marry wheelwright, William Warbrick, from the nearby village of Clayton Green. They then had children together, one of whom was Henry Warbrick, Cometan's great grandfather.

McKearney family

The McKearneys were a working class family of Irish immigrants who travelled from Dublin sometime during the mid-19th century and settled in Preston in Lancashire. Hugh McKerney (1789 - 1863), who originated from county Fermanagh in what is now Northern Ireland, lead the move from Ireland to England due to the Irish Potato Famine that took place between 1845-1849. His great granddaughter, Edith McKerney, settled in Higher Walton and later married Richard Hardacre. They had two daughters together, one of whom was Irene Hardacre, Cometan's paternal grandmother.

Moon family

The Moon family were a family of English farmers and landowners whose lineage can be traced back to the very late 17th century with Henry Moone. Based in and around the village of Eccleston, by the early 1800s, the family had amassed 21 acres of land and owned Daisy Hill Farm in Euxton. The oldest picture of Cometan's ancestors features Ralph Moon, Cometan's 4th great-grandfather just one year before his death alongside his wife, Agnes. It was taken in 1858, just twenty years after the invention of photography which demonstrates the wealth they must have accumulated for that time to be able to afford such a photograph.

Prescott family

Our knowledge of the Prescott family is limited in comparison to the other families of Cometanic ancestry. David Prescott was born in 1819 in Chorley, Lancashire and had a son, Joseph Prescott. Joseph was an English cashier and teacher who married Elizabeth Moon and with whom they had a daughter named Mary, one of the maternal great grandmothers of Cometan. Various documents involving Joseph have been kept in tact and these can be viewed in the Cometanic Archives. There are also a couple of pictures of Joseph in the early 1900s before his death in 1930.

Taylor / Stringfellow family

The Taylor family was a working class family who originated from the village of Coppull in Lancashire which was were Derrick Taylor, Cometan's grandfather, came from. Virtually nothing is known about the Taylor family beyond Derrick Taylor himself other than that his parents were killed in a car crash. Derrick, joined by his wife Irene, settled at 222 Longmeanygate in the 1950s and raised ten children there, one of which was Cometan's father, Sean. Derrick Taylor's mother, Ellen, had a maiden name of Stringfellow and her family originate from within Lancashire.

Turner family

The Turner family's lineage can be traced back to the early 19th century with Thomas Turner born in Walton-le-Dale. The family remained stationary in this village all the way up to recent times. Cometan's 2nd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Turner (née Farnworth) would have three children with Joseph Turner, one of whom was named Jane. Although the Turner name would live on through Jane's brother Edward, the family's direct connection to Cometan was broken with Jane Turner's death in 1942 when her daughter Hilda was just four years old.

Warbrick family

The Warbrick family is the ancestral family of Cometan that we perhaps know the most about. They were a large family with extensive connections in villages surrounding Preston. Their lineage traces back to the late 17th century with Richard Warbrick who was born in the coastal town of Blackpool. With James Warbrick in the mid 18th century, they moved north-eastward to the village of Garstang where they alternated in residence with the village of Clayton Green for about 100 years across generations. In the mid 1800s however, the family settled in Clayton Green (now Clayton-le-Woods) where William Warbrick established his wheelwright business and married and had children with a local landlady called Elizabeth Lancaster.

Noteworthy photographs

All images distributed by Cometanica.

© 2020 Millettarian Photographic Institute.