Dorothy Jordan

Born Dorothea Bland, better known under her stage name “Mrs.” Dorothy Jordan.

Illegitimate daughter of Francis Bland (d.1778) by his mistress Grace Phillips (d.1760)

Born: Waterford 21. Nov 1761

Baptized: St. Martin in the Fields, London 5. Dec 1761

Actress and mistress of Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, the future King William IV. of the United Kingdom (1765-1837)

Illegitimate issue by Richard Daly (1758-1813), manager of the Theatre Royal, Cork:

  • Frances Jordan / Phillips (1782-1821, from an overdose of laudanum) m.1808 Thomas Alsop (d. 1824)

Illegitimate issue by Sir Richard Ford (c.1759-1806), police magistrate: 

  • Dorothea Maria Ford / Jordan (1787-1859) m.1809 Frederick Edward March (c.1785/90-1859), illegitimate son of Lord Henry Fitzgerald

  • Son (1788-1788)

  • Lucy Hester Ford / Jordan (1789-1862) m.1810 Samuel Hawker (1763-1838)

Illegitimate issue by Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, later King William IV:

Died: Saint-Cloud, France 5. Jul 1815 from maladie noire according to one account

Buried: Cemetery at Avenue Foch, Satin-Cloud

Source: Detlev Schwennicke "Europäische Stammtafeln. Neue Folgen", Vol. III/2, 1983, J.A. Stargardt; Claire Tomalin “Mrs Jordan’s profession“ Penguin, London 1995; Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage, online version (Earls of Munster); Anthony Camp ”Royal Mistresses and Bastards. Fact and Fiction 1714-1936”, London 2007