Dorothea Jordan (21 November 1761 – 5 July 1816) was an Irish actress, courtesan and the mistress and famous companion of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom, while he was Duke of Clarence, for 20 years.
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Early life
She was born Dorothea (sometimes called Dorothy or Dora) Bland near Waterford, Ireland, the daughter of Francis Bland (d. 1778) and his mistress, née Grace Phillips, and paternal granddaughter of Nathaneal Bland (d. 1760), Vicar General of Ardfert and Agadhoe and Judge Prerogative Court, of Dublin, Ireland, and his wife Lucy (née Heaton).
In 1774, when she was 13, Dorothea's father, who worked as a stagehand, abandoned the family to marry an Irish actress. Though he continued to support the family by sending them meagre sums of money, they were poor and Dorothea had to go to work to help support her four siblings. Her mother, an actress by profession, saw potential in Dorothea and put her on the stage.
Stage life and early relationships
She became a famous actress of the day and was said to have the most beautiful legs ever seen on the stage. Audiences enjoyed her performances in breeches roles.[1] She assumed the name "Mrs. Jordan", because it was slightly more respectable for a married woman to be on the stage. In fact, there was no "Mr. Jordan" and Dorothea Bland never married. Some sources state that the name and title were taken to conceal an early pregnancy. She had an affair with her first boss, Richard Daly, the manager of the Theatre Royal, Cork, who was married, and had an illegitimate daughter, Frances (b. 1782 Dublin), at age 20.
In England, she had a short lived affair with an army Lieutenant, Charles Doyne, who proposed marriage. But she turned him down and 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.[2]
Shortly after her affair with Wilkinson was over, she began an affair with George Inchbald, the male lead in the Wilkinson company. According to Claire Tomalin, Dorothea's biographer, Dorothea would have married Inchbald, so greatly was she in love with him, but that he never asked. Broken-hearted, she left him in 1786 to begin an affair with Sir Richard Ford, a police magistrate and a lawyer. She moved in with Ford when he promised to marry her. They had three children, a short lived son and two daughters. She left him to begin her affair with the Duke of Clarence, once she realized that Ford was never going to marry her.[3]
Relationship with William IV
Pretty, witty and intelligent, Jordan soon came to the attention of wealthy men. She became the mistress of William, Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, in 1791, living with him at Bushy House,[4] and seemed to have not bothered herself with politics or the political intrigues that often went on behind the scenes in royal courts. She continued her acting career, and made public appearances with the Duke when necessary. Together they had at least ten illegitimate children, all of whom took the surname FitzClarence:
- George Augustus (1794-1842), created Earl of Munster in 1831.
- Henry Edward (27 March 1795 - September 1817) (no issue)
- Sophia (August 1796 - 10 April 1837) married Philip Sidney, 1st Baron De L'Isle and Dudley.
- Mary (19 December 1798 - 13 July 1864), married General Charles Richard Fox (no issue)
- Frederick (9 December 1799 - 30 October 1854) - British Army Lieutenant General and made Lord Frederick FitzClarence
- Elizabeth (17 January 1801 - 16 January 1856) married William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll
- Adolphus (Rear-Admiral) (18 February 1802 - 17 May 1856) (no issue) - Lord Adolphus FitzClarence
- Augusta (17 November 1803 - 8 December 1865) married, firstly, Hon. John Kennedy-Erskine, 5 July 1827, married secondly, Admiral Lord Hallyburton
- Reverend Lord Augustus (1 March 1805 - 14 June 1854); rector at Mapledurham in Oxfordshire. Married Sarah Gordon and had issue.
- Amelia (21 March 1807 - 2 July 1858) married Lucius Bentinck Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland
Later life
In 1811, when she and the Duke separated, she was given a yearly stipend by him and custody of their daughters while he retained custody of their sons. Part of her stipend included money for the care of the children with a stipulation stating that in order to continue receiving that money, and retain custody, Dorothy must not return to the stage. In 1814, when a son-in-law became heavily in debt, Dorothy returned to the stage to help pay off that debt. Once the Duke received word of this, he removed their remaining daughters from her care, and took back her yearly stipend. To avoid creditors, she fled to France in 1815 and died at Saint-Cloud, near Paris, in poverty just a year later.
Notable descendants
Her notable descendants include:
- Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, also a granddaughter of Edward VII
- Her Highness Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk, also a granddaughter of Edward VII
- Sir Edward Bellingham, 5th Bt. Brig.-Gen., Senator of the Irish Free State (26 January 1879-19 May 1956)
- Fra Andrew Bertie (1929-2008) Prince and Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.
- David Cameron Leader of the Conservative Party, (born 9 October 1966)
- Duff Cooper British diplomat, Cabinet member and author (22 February 1890 - 1 January 1954)
- John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (b.1958), aka Johnny Dumfries, former racing driver.
- Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence, recipient of the Victoria Cross (8 May 1865 - 2 November 1914)
- Adam Hart-Davis British author, photographer, and broadcaster (born 4 July 1943)
- Rupert Hart-Davis British publisher, literary editor, and man of letters (28 August 1907 - 8 December 1999)
- Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll, a cross-bench member of the House of Lords (born 20 April 1948)
- Violet Jacob Scottish writer (1863 - 1946)
- William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle 15th Governor-General of Australia, the last British Governor-General (23 May 1909 - 5 April 1991)
Bibliography
- Mrs. Jordan's Profession: The Actress and the Prince, Claire Tomalin, 17 October 1994, Publisher: Viking, ISBN 0-670-84159-5
- Ladies of the Bedchamber, Dennis Friedman, 2003, Publisher: Peter Owen, ISBN 0-720-61244-6
- The Delectable Dora Jordan, In Otis Skinner (1928) Mad Folk of the Theatre Publisher: Ayer Publishing, ISBN 9780836918519
References
- ^ Denlinger, Elizabeth Campbell (2005), Before Victoria: extraordinary women of the British romantic era, Columbia University Press, ISBN 9780231136303, http://books.google.com/books?id=dVIGcfOMwn8C&pg=PA81
- ^ Information on Bland, Dorothea
- ^ pg. 90 & 91, Ladies of the Bedchamber, Dennis Friedman
- ^ Google Books The Story of Dorothy Jordan Armstrong, Clare & Jerrold, Bridgman. Ayer Publishing, 1969. ISBN 0405086725, 9780405086724
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