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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.

Cometanic Ancestry, Genealogy 

& Relatives book

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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.
© 2021 Millettarian Photographic Institute.

Some ancestors of Cometan

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Family: Warbrick

Year of birth: 1863

Date of death: 1933

Occupation: Wheelwright

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great grandfather

William Warbrick

Cometan's maternal great-grandfather, William Warbrick was a wheelwright for the majority of his life. He married Elizabeth Lancaster sometime in the latter half of the 19th century and fathered seven children. 

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Family: Prescott

Date of birth: 1887

Date of death: January 15, 1939

Occupation: World War Two infantry

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great-uncle

Harry Prescott

Harry Prescott was one of the great great-uncles of Cometan on his maternal grandfather's side. He served as a soldier during World War One and although he survived the war, he was terribly ill after returning home due to gas poisoning from the war.

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Family: In-law to the Turner family

Date of birth: 1915

Date of death: 23rd February 1998

Occupation: Poet

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great-uncle

Edwin Southworth

Edwin "Ted" Southworth was one of the great great-uncles of Cometan on his maternal grandmother's side. One of Ted's passions was writing poetry and many of his works are planned to be published posthumously by Cometan. He married Elizabeth "Lily" Turner (1914 - 1996).

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Family: Hardacre

Date of birth: 27th December 1905

Date of death: April 1962

Occupation: World War Two firefighter

Relation to Cometan: great grandfather

Richard Hardacre

Richard Hardacre was the great grandfather of Cometan on his paternal grandmother's side. What was known of Richard has largely been lost to history, but we do know he was a firefighter during World War Two. Married Edith McKerney in April 1930.

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Family: Warbrick

Date of birth: unknown

Date of death: unknown

Occupation: Cotton weaver & policeman

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great uncle

Thomas E Warbrick

Thomas Warbrick was one of the 2nd great uncles of Cometan in the Warbrick family in which he was a brother to Henry Warbrick, Cometan's great grandfather. Thomas was a Ministry of Defense policeman.

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Family: In-law of the Warbrick family

Date of birth: 1924

Date of death: 22nd March 1999

Occupation: Draughtsman 

Relation to Cometan: Great uncle

Stephen Conway

Steven Conway was one of the maternal great uncles of Cometan who actually died before Cometan's birth. A very creative individual, Steven drew a multitude of pictures throughout his life, built a model of the Golden Hinde, an excellent photographer and designing and making stained glass.

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Family: Warbrick

Date of birth: 1895, Royal Oak Inn, Brindle

Date of death: 1929, Mount Street Hosp. Preston

Occupation: Mill worker

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great-aunt

Anastasia Arrowsmith

Married Jack Arrowsmith, a descendent of Saint Edmund Arrowsmith, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Died of asyphyxiation in Mount Street Hospital in Preston at the age of just 32.

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Family: Warbrick

Date of birth: 14th May 1896

Date of death: 24th August 1972

Occupation: Soldier

Relation to Cometan: great grandfather

Henry Warbrick

Henry Warbrick was the maternal great grandfather of Cometan and is remembered for his service as a solider in World War One. He retracted gout from the trenches, but lived until 1972.

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Family: Warbrick (née Prescott)

Date of birth: 24th August 1898

Date of death: 7th June 1967

Occupation: Weaver

Relation to Cometan: great grandmother

Mary Warbrick

Mary Warbrick was the great grandmother of Cometan on his maternal grandfather's side. There are some images of Mary collected and published by Cometanica depicting her alongside her family.

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Family: Warbrick

Date of birth: Unknown

Date of death: 1944, Salerno Beach, Italy

Occupation: World War Two sapper

Relation to Cometan: 1st cousin twice removed

Thomas Warbrick

Thomas Warbrick (depicted here as a young boy at a wedding) was a sapper during World War Two who died towards the end of the war in 1944 on Salerno Beach in Italy whilst sapping buried mines.

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Family: Warbrick

Date of birth: 1884

Date of death: 17th November 1953

Occupation: Wheelwright and undertaker

Relation to Cometan: 2nd great uncle

John James Warbrick

John James Warbrick was part of the Warbrick family as the son of William Warbrick, Cometan's great great-grandfather. John James had taken over his father's wheelwright business, but switched to being an undertaker in the early 1900s.

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Family: Cottam

Date of birth: 7th May 1936

Date of death: 6th June 2010

Occupation: Plumbing and heating engineer

Relation to Cometan: Great uncle

Kevin Cottam

The brother of Hilda Warbrick, Cometan's grandmother, Kevin and his young sister were often mistaken for twins when growing up as they were so close in size. Kevin had an entrepreneurial spirit and set up his own business in the village of Longridge.

Genealogical Resources

Cometanic Genealogical Report

Family Tree Poster of Cometan

Cometan on Ancestry.co.uk

Cometanic Archives

The Family of Cometan

Cometan on MyHeritage

Earliest known ancestors of Cometan

 

Richard Warbrecke (1570 – Jan 1598), Great Marton

John Hull (1565 – Apr 1631), Poulton-le-Fylde

Henry Moone (1527 – 1580), Hollowforth

Sir Robert Moone (Jan 1555 – Jan 1615), Woodplumpton

Lady Alice Dilworth (1557 – Aug 1625), Woodplumpton

Thomas Stringfellow (1670 – 1717), Welch Whittle

John Hardiker (1665 – 1730), Croston

Elizabeth Hardiker (née Tomlinson; 1670 – 1742), Croston

Gyles Farnworth (1532 – 1598), Bolton

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