Dorothea Jordan (née Bland; 22 November 17615 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time partner of Prince William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), and the mother of 10 illegitimate children by him, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence. She was known professionally as Dorothea Francis and Dorothea Jordan, was informally Dora Jordan, and she was commonly referred to as Mrs Jordan and Mrs FitzClarence.

Early life

Dorothea Bland was born near Waterford City in Ireland on 22 November 1761, and was baptised at St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, on 5 December of that year. She was the third of six children born to Francis Bland (1736 – 2 January 1778, in Dover) and his mistress, Grace Phillips (c. 1740 – 1789 in Edinburgh). Her siblings were:

  • George Bland (c. 1758 – 1807 in Boston, Massachusetts; actor and singer)
  • Hester Bland (baptised 2 March 1760 at St Anne Soho, Middlesex – buried at St David's, as of Trelethin, 8 March 1848)
  • Lucy Bland (1763/64 – 1778 in Trelethin, St David's, 1778)
  • Francis Bland (; a captain, unmarried and without issue)
  • Nathaniel Phillips Bland (1766/67 – buried at St David's, Pembrokeshire, 3 June 1830).

Before April 1774, when she was age 13, Jordan's father, who worked as a stagehand, abandoned the family to marry an Irish actress. However, he continued to support the family by sending them meagre sums of money. Jordan then adopted her mother's maiden name, Phillips. The knowledge of Jordan's time and other roles performed in Ireland is fragmentary; however, she is known to have played Priscilla Tomboy in Bickerstaff's The Romp, Anne in Richard III, and Adelaide in the tragedy The Count of Narbonne. It was during this move that she adopted the surname "Jordan," and like all the other women in the company (both unmarried and married), adopted the title "Mrs." Her first performance in England was the tragic role of Calista in The Fair Penitent on 11 July 1782, for which she had been tutored by the scholar Cornelious Swan. Wilkinson paid her 15 shillings a week, and she quickly won over the favour of her audiences, packing theatres. Despite her versatile acting talents, the critics were not pleased with her performing tragedy roles. Dora faced harsh criticism for these roles as she was not considered socially acceptable to play women of a higher standing. Swan wrote to Tate to express his amazement at Jordan's talents:

Jordan performed in the Yorkshire Circuit with Wilkinson's company from 1782 to 1785. She was able to learn her lines quickly and seemed to have a natural talent, which made the other actresses in the company jealous. In her first few months, she was given the role of Fanny in The Clandestine Marriage, which only made her more unpopular with the women in the company.

During this first tour, while in Hull, Jordan gave birth to her first daughter Frances. After the delivery, while she cared for the baby, the actresses of the company "blackened her character among the people of Hull." This remark was soon discounted when William Smith came from London and offered Jordan a salary of £4 per week at Drury Lane. She took the offer and performed for Wilkinson's company for a final time on 9 September 1785 before departing to London with her mother, two-year-old daughter, and sister Hester.

Although no specific dates can be sourced, Dora is believed to have performed the role of Lady Teazle in Sheridan's The School for Scandal before she arrived in London. In 1785, she made her first London appearance at Drury Lane as Peggy in The Country Girl. The Morning Post the next day reported on her performance:

thumb|left|Mrs. Jordan in her role of Peggy in [[The Country Girl (1766 play)|The Country Girl, David Garrick's tamer adaption of Wycherley's earlier, more scandalous play The Country Wife]]

Gradually, it came to be recognised that her talent lay in comedy. She was acclaimed for her "naturalness" on stage, and called a "child of nature", a slightly derogatory term for someone who is of illegitimate birth. as Viola in Twelfth Night,

Play them "all" she did, but Jordan found less success in playing women of higher social standing with some individuals believing that she lacked the "artifice and incisiveness" of other actresses who commonly played such roles.

During her time on the stage, she wrote the popular song "The Bluebells of Scotland", published under her name around 1800.

In 1815, the renowned theatre critic, William Hazlitt, wrote:

Richard Daly

She had an affair with Richard Daly, who was manager of Dublin's Crow Street Theatre and then of Smock Alley. Daly was married, and she had an illegitimate child with him:

  • Frances Daly (also called Fanny; born in September 1782; she later changed her name to Frances Bettesworth in 1806 and married Thomas Alsop in 1807; she died 2 June 1821).

Jordan's work with Richard Daly helped establish her as an actress in Dublin until the two separated and she left for England.

She then went to work for the theatre company operated by Tate Wilkinson. It was at this point she adopted the name Mrs. Jordan – a reference to her escape across the Irish Sea, likened to the River Jordan. The name "Mrs Jordan" was also reportedly given to her by Richard Daly for "motherly reasons", soon after she gave birth to their first illegitimate child. She appeared at Wilkinson's York Circuit theatres, including The Theatre, Leeds, where she complained of uncomfortable working conditions.

George Inchbald

Shortly after her affair with Daly was over, she began an affair with George Inchbald, the male lead in the Wilkinson company. According to biographer Claire Tomalin, Jordan had hopes of their marrying, but he was wary of committing himself; later he regretted this and proposed to her, but she turned him down.

Richard Ford

In late 1786, Jordan began an affair with Sir Richard Ford, then a police magistrate and lawyer. She moved in with him, believing he intended marriage. They had three illegitimate children:

  • Dorothea Maria Ford (born August 1787, married in 1809 to Frederick Edward March, a natural son of Lord Henry FitzGerald).
  • A son (who died at birth in October or November 1788).
  • Lucy Hester Ford (born 1789, died 1850, Jordan's children were placed under the care of her sister Hester, who moved with them to a house in Brompton. According to a settlement dated 4 November 1791, Jordan transferred all her savings to Ford and Hester for the maintenance and education of the children; in addition, she allowed them an annual payment and granted Hester an allowance for her services.

William IV

alt=A colorful cartoon depicting a woman sitting up in bed while a man sleeps besides her.|thumb|In this 1791 [[James Gillray cartoon, Jordan is depicted in bed with the Duke of Clarence.]]

In 1790, Jordan became the mistress of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, the third son of King George III. He had met her at Drury Lane. She began living with him first at Clarence Lodge and later, in 1797, at Bushy House. Together they had 10 illegitimate children, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence:

  • George FitzClarence (29 January 179420 March 1842), created Earl of Munster in 1831. Married Mary Wyndham.
  • Henry Edward FitzClarence (27 March 1795September 1817). Unmarried.
  • Sophia FitzClarence (25 August 179610 April 1837), married Philip Sidney, 1st Baron De L'Isle and Dudley.
  • Mary FitzClarence (19 December 179813 July 1864), married General Charles Richard Fox. No issue.
  • Lieutenant General Lord Frederick FitzClarence GCH (9 December 179930 October 1854), officer in the British Army. Married Lady Augusta Boyle.
  • Elizabeth FitzClarence (17 January 180116 January 1856), married William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll.
  • Rear-Admiral Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, Royal Guelphic Order, Aide-de-camp, Royal Navy (18 February 180217 May 1856). Unmarried.
  • Augusta FitzClarence (17 November 18038 December 1865) married, firstly, Hon. John Kennedy-Erskine, 5 July 1827, married secondly, Admiral Lord Frederick Gordon-Hallyburton.
  • Lord Augustus FitzClarence (1 March 180514 June 1854), rector at Mapledurham in Oxfordshire. Married Sarah Elizabeth Catharine Gordon.
  • Amelia FitzClarence (21 March 18072 July 1858), married Lucius Bentinck Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland.

During this time, Jordan was granted a yearly stipend of £1,200 (), but she continued to perform at both Drury Lane and Covent Garden as well as on provincial tours until her 1811 separation from Prince William.