Dorothea Jordan

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Portrait of John Hoppner

Dorothea Jordan , born Dorothea Bland (born November 21, 1761 in Waterford , Ireland ; † July 5, 1816 in Saint-Cloud , France ) was an Irish actress and the long-time mistress of the British King William IV.

Life

Dorothy was the third of six children of the stage worker Francis Bland (1736–1778) and his mistress Grace Phillips (approx. 1740–1789). Her father, the seedy son of an Anglican vicar Nathaniel Bland, left the family in 1774 and married an actress. Her mother, also an actress, brought her to the stage, first in Dublin in 1777, then in Leeds and other cities in Yorkshire from 1782. She took the stage name Mrs. Jordan and had an illegitimate daughter, Frances Daly (1782-1821) from a relationship with the married manager of the Theater Royal in Cork, Richard Daly, who married Thomas Alsop in 1807 and from 1815 also became an actress. Further relationships with theater people followed.

Dorothy made her first appearance in London in 1785 . Until 1809 she worked there in the ensemble at the Theater Royal Drury Lane , mainly in comedies, from 1811 in Covent Garden . In 1786 she began an affair with the lawyer Sir Richard Ford, from which she had three other children. When she realized that Ford wasn't going to marry her, she looked around for alternatives. With her beauty, wit and intelligence, she enchanted the gentlemen of London society.

Bushy House

In 1790 she began an affair with the Duke of Clarence and later King William IV of Great Britain and became his mistress the following year . She gave her children to her sister Hester, who she raised in a house in Brompton, with Dorothy and Ford providing her with the means.

Dorothy and William lived similarly at Bushy House near Hampton Court Palace until their separation in 1811 .

The liaison produced ten children who were given the family name FitzClarence :

When the Duke separated from her in 1811, she was given custody of the daughters, while he took care of the sons. She received an annual allowance on the condition not to return to the stage. However, when one of her sons-in-law got into serious debt in 1814, she reappeared. When William found out, he had her and her daughters cut the appanage. In 1815 she fled from her creditors to France and died there in poverty on July 5, 1816 in Saint-Cloud near Paris .

More offspring

literature

  • Claire Tomalin: Mrs. Jordan's Profession. The story of a great actress and a future King . Viking Verlag, London et al. 1994, ISBN 0-670-84159-5 .

Movies

  • 1914: Their Cousin from England
  • 1914: A Can of Baked Beans

Web links

Commons : Dorothea Jordan  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Jordan, Dorothea
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jordan, Dorothy; Bland, Dorothea (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1761
PLACE OF BIRTH Waterford , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH July 5, 1816
Place of death Saint-Cloud , France