Gerald the Welshman Giraldus Cambrensis was born, probably in 1147, aT- Manorbier Castle in the county of Pembroke. His father was a Norman noble,William de Barri, who took his name from the little island of Barry off the coast of Glamorgan. His mother, Angharad, was the daughter of Gerald de Windsor x by his wife, the famous Princess Nesta, the " Helen of Wales," and the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr Mawr, the last independent Prince of South Wales.