Dorothy Jordan

Mrs Jordan (November 21, 1761 – July 5, 1816), actress, was the mistress of King William IV of the United Kingdom.

She was born Dorothea Bland near Waterford, the daughter of Francis Bland and his wife, née Grace Phillips.

She became an actress and assumed the name "Mrs Jordan", because it was slightly more respectable for a married woman to be on the stage (there was no "Mr Jordan" and Dorothea Bland never married).

She became William IV's mistress and they had at least ten illegitimate children:

1. George Augustus (1794-1842), created Earl of Munster in 1831.
2. Henry Edward (1795-1817)
3. Sophia (1796-1837)
4. Mary (1798-1864), who married Charles Richard Fox
5. Frederick (1799-1854)
6. Elizabeth (1801-1856)
7. Adolphus (1802-1856)
8. Augusta (1803-1865)
9. Augustus (1805-1854)
10. Amelia (1807-1858)

She was also romantically linked with Sir Richard Ford, a police magistrate, and Richard Daly, manager of the Theatre Royal, Cork.

She died at Saint-Cloud, near Paris, France.