Barry has had its fair share of people that have been born here and gone on to become celebrities or famous for the job that they do. We have enjoyed finding out about some of the people who came from Barry!
Grace Mary Williams – 1906-1977
Grace Mary Williams was born on 19th February 1906 in Barry. Grace was a composer and was generally considered to be Wales’s most notable female composer. She was also first British woman to score a feature film. This was called Blue Scar.
Grace produced numerous musical compositions and this included two symphonies, several symphonic suites and symphonic poems, concertos for piano, violin, trumpet and oboe, as well as large-scale choral works, numerous vocal compositions and a few chamber and solo instrumental pieces.
Gwynfor Richard Evans 1912 – 2005
Gwynfor was a Welsh politician and lawyer and author. He was also the President of the Welsh political party known as Plaid Cymru for 36 years. He also represented Plaid Cymru at Westminster twice, from 1966 to 1970, and from 1974 to 1979.
Robert Tear
1939- 2011
Robert was a Welsh tenor singer. He was also a teacher and conductor. He was well known for singing in Benjamin Britten’s operas in the 1960s and then he was based at the Royal Opera House in London until he retired.
Julia Eileen Gillard 1961 to present day
Julia was born in Barry and emigrated to Australia with her family in 1966. Julia is a politician and became the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and is the first and only women to ever hold this role.
Derek Brockway 1967 to present day
Derek Brockway was born in Barry and attended Holton Road School. He became a meteorologist and was employed by the Met Office. In 2016 he joined the BBC and is based at BBC Wales in Cardiff. He presents programmes on weather on the radio, television and online.
Rhodri Williams 1968 – present day
Rhodri is a Welsh sports journalist . He was born in Barry in 1968.
Rhodri was one of the main presenters on Sky Sports News and was also one of the main presenters for Sky Sports rugby. Rhodri currently presents on Qatar’s Al-Kass Sports Channel as he is the anchor for the networks English speaking studio.
Derek Robert Tapscott 1932 – 2008
Derek was born in Barry and attended High Street Junior School. He left school at 14 and worked as a delivery boy before becoming an apprentice bricklayer. In 1950 he was called up for Nation Service but came home on weekends to play for Barry Town. He was signed by Arsenal in 1953 after trialling at Tottenham Hotspur.
Derek joined the Bluebirds for a fee of £10,000 and became Cardiff Citys sixth highest goal scorer of all time. He retired from football in 1970.
Bryn Merrick – 1958 – 2015
Bryn was born in Barry in 1958. Bryn was a member of a punk based band called Victimize. He played the bass. Bryn went on to join The Dammed in 1983 and released singles such as Thanks for the Night.
Gerran Lyn Howell 1991 to present day
Gerran Howell was born in Barry and attended Barry Comprehensive School.
Gerran is a Welsh actor and also writes and directs short films. He is best known for playing Vladimir Dracula in the CBBC Young Dracula TV series in 2006.