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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.
Her paternal grandparents were Nathaniel Bland (1695/96, in Killarney, County Kerry – 1760), Vicar General of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and Judge of the Prerogative Court of Dublin, Ireland, and his second wife Lucy (née Heaton). The reports about Jordan's maternal ancestry are unproven; Grace Phillips has been described as the daughter of a Welsh clergyman, whose parish was at Trelethyn.Claire Tomalin, Mrs Jordan's Profession, p. 10.
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. This allowance was on the condition that the children would not use his last name. Jordan then adopted her mother's maiden name, Phillips.
Rumours spread and she fled to England, specifically Leeds, where she was employed by Tate Wilkinson, manager of the York Company. 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.Mrs Jordan (Dorothy Jordan). (18th–20th century). (Album containing press cuttings, exhibition catalogue: 'Mrs Jordan: The Duchess of Drury Lane', 1995); engraved portraits; article; sheet music ('The Willow'), press cuttings, book extract and poster.) University of Bristol, Theatre Collection. Bristol, United Kingdom. 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." When she returned to the stage on Boxing Day playing Calista in The Fair Penitent, she was met with strong disapproval. Audiences felt that the similarities between Jordan and Calista were too strong. However, Wilkinson came to Jordan's aid to dispel the gossip, painting Jordan as a mild-mannered victim. Through Wilkinson's support and Jordan's hard work and good nature, she was eventually able to win over the people before the company returned to York.
Some time later, while in York, Sarah Siddons came to visit Wilkinson and saw Dora Jordan perform in one of her popular . Siddons, however, was not impressed with Jordan's performance and said that she should remain on the Yorkshire Circuit for she was "not up to London." 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. ©1989–©2002 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:
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. Audiences also enjoyed her performances in such breeches roles as Viola in Twelfth Night, Sir Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple, and William in Rosina.
In addition to her being "the most admired comic actress of her time", Jordan was a competent Shakespearean and tragic actress, playing the roles of Ophelia, Imogen in Cymbeline, Emilia in Othello, and Zara in Aaron Hill's play of that name. When she first auditioned for Wilkinson, on being asked whether she preferred "tragedy, comedy, or opera?" she answered "All."
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.
In addition to playing at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, Jordan continued to return to the provincial circuits. She returned to Wilkinson's Circuit in York several times, as well as Edinburgh, Margate, Liverpool, Bath, Bristol, and Manchester.
Her engagement at Drury Lane lasted until 1809, and she played a large variety of parts. During the rebuilding of Drury Lane she played at the Haymarket; she transferred her services in 1811 to Covent Garden. Here, in 1814, she made her last appearance on the London stage, and the following year, at Margate, retired altogether.
During her time on the stage, she wrote the popular song "The Bluebells of Scotland", published under her name around 1800.British Musical Biography: A Dictionary of Musical Artists, Authors, and Composers Born in Britain and Its Colonies, James Duff Brown and Stephen Samuel Stratton, Birmingham, England: S. S. Stratton, 1897, p. 225
In 1815, the renowned theatre critic, William Hazlitt, wrote:
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. Leodis, Discovering Leeds: The Theatre Retrieved 17 December 2013
She left Ford when marriage was no longer possible.pg. 90 & 91, Ladies of the Bedchamber, Dennis Friedman 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. The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature, p. 693. retrieved. Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and others Stage Personnel in London, vol. 8: Hough to Keyse, p. 253. retrieved.
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. In 1811, Jordan was given an annual stipend of £4,400 () by Prince William and custody of their daughters while he retained custody of their sons. Half of her stipend was specifically earmarked for the care of the children with a stipulation stating that in order to continue receiving that money, and retain custody, Jordan must not return to the stage.
Jordan sold her home in 1815 and moved to Boulogne, France, assuming the alias Mrs. James or Madame James or Mrs. Johnson. Not having been summoned back to England, she moved to Versailles by the end of the year. Soon after, she moved to Saint-Cloud, near Paris. While in France, she was defrauded by her eldest daughter, Frances, and son-in-law, Thomas Alsop, after they accumulated large sums of debt in her name. During this time, both her mental and physical health declined, and she suffered from "bilious attacks, pains in her side, swollen ankles, shortness of breath and increasing general weakness". She wrote in a letter "it is not, believe me, the feelings of pride, avarice, or the absence of those comforts I have all my life been accustomed to, that is killing me by inches; it is the loss of my only remaining comfort, the hope I used to live on from time to time, of seeing my children".
She died alone on 5 July 1816 from a ruptured blood vessel caused by violent inflammation of the chest. She was buried in the town cemetery of Saint-Cloud.
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