Ancestry of Mrs Jordan
Dorothy Bland (1761-1816), generally known as Mrs Jordan, the mistress of William, Duke of Clarence (subsequently William IV), was one of six illegitimate children of Francis Bland (1736-1778) and Grace Phillips (c.1740-1789). The backgrounds of this couple were not explored in Royal Mistresses and Bastards (2007) but are set out here.
The Bland pedigree is based originally on Nicholas Carlisle, Collections for a history of the ancient family of Bland (London, 1826) [copy at Society of Antiquaries; index by Fanny Bland printed at Kendal, 1890]. From it are derived the details in The Ancestor, viii (1904) 52, in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, sub Bland of Derriquin, and in Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 129-30. Additional information is provided by J.F. Fuller in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, Fourth Series, ii (London, 1907) 279-88. A short pedigree also appears in Claire Tomalin, Mrs Jordan's profession: the actress and the prince (1995) 390-1. From these sources and those indicated below the following accounts (both far from satisfactory) have been assembled.
Mrs Jordan's paternal grandfather was:
Nathaniel Bland, born at Killarney, co. Kerry, 1695-6 (son of Very Revd James Bland, Archdeacon of Limerick, and grandson of John Bland of Sedbergh, Yorkshire). Educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire; admitted pensioner, Trinity College, Dublin, 10 June 1712, aged 16; LL.B. Spring 1724; LL.D. Summer 1727 [Alumni Dublinensis]; Vicar-General of Diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe; Judge of Prerogative Court of Armagh; of Derriquin Castle, co. Kerry. He died 1760. His will proved Prerogative Court of Armagh, 1760. He had married 1stly, by licence dated 1721, Diana Kemeys, only daughter and heiress of Nicholas Kemeys, J.P., of Clonmore and of St Bridgets, Dublin, by Mary, daughter of Richard Crofts, of Dublin [BLG ii (1969) sub Kemmis, page 367]. He had issue by his first wife:
1a. John Bland, born 1720-1 [not 1701 as in Burke's Irish Family Records]. Cornet, Bland's Horse; fought at Dettingen; taken prisoner at Fontenoy; fought at Clifton Moor, 1745; became actor, 1751; disinherited by father; author of Frederick the forsaken, 1761; actor, manager and treasurer of Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. He died 1808, aged 87 [Hibernian Magazine, 1808; biography in MGetH 4S ii (1907) 287-8]. He had married Nancy ..., actress, who survived him. They had issue:
1b. James Bland. Native of Lancaster [baptismal entry of second son]. Actor, in London, 1784, but usually in provinces; in Durham, 1815; 'a careless and dissipated character' [Highfill, ii (1973) 169-70]. He apparently lived with Susannah Cunningham, formerly wife of James Dalrymple of Grangefield and mistress of Henry Mills (died 1784), of Newcastle, comedian [Leah Leneman, Alienated affections: the Scottish experience of divorce and separation; information from Mr Todd A. Farmerie]. He subsequently lived with or married Henrietta Satchell, daughter of John Satchell, of London, musical instrument maker, and sister of Mrs Stephen Kemble, Mrs John Duill later Mrs John Taylor, and of Mrs Robert Benson. Not herself an actress. They had issue [Highfill, ii (1973) 170] four children including:
1c. John Bland (second son), baptised at All Saints, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, 25 October 1798. Actor, 1815. He married at Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, 19 February 1828, Georgina Freeth Glover, actress [Highfill, ii (1973) 170], eldest daughter of Samuel Glover by his wife Julia Betterton. She died 1881 [MGetH 4S ii (1907) 280].
2b. John Bland. Actor [MGetH 4S ii (1907) 282]; in Edinburgh. He died c.1796 [Highfill, ii (1973) 170]. [According to Highfill, ii (1973) 170, he married Henrietta Mills (nee Stamper), widow of John Mills, actor, who had died 1787, but this seems a mistaken identification based on his brother's involvement with the wife of Henry Mills; information from Mr Todd A. Farmerie]. Perhaps the Mrs Bland, of Swansea Theatre, who died 11 October 1808 [Highfill, ii (1973) 170].
3b. Edward Bland. He married Jane ... Consented to marriage of daughter, 1787. They had issue:
1c. Martha Bland, born 12 September 1767 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, 27 September 1767 [incorrectly described as the sister of James Bland, her uncle, in Highfill ii (1973) 170]. As 'Elizabetha Martha Bland' she married by licence of the Bishop of London at St Pancras, Middlesex, 27 July 1787, Antonio Angelo Tremamondo ('Anthony Angelo'). He was born 1747-8; Captain in Bodyguard of Warren Hastings. He died at Newman Street, Marylebone, 2 October 1829, aged 82 [GM 1829 379]. His will dated 21 January 1828 proved 16 October 1829 [PCC, PROB11/1762]. They had issue [The Ancestor, viii (1904) 1-72 and MGetH 4S ii (1907) 282-4].
2a. James Bland, baptised at St Peter & St Kevin, Dublin, 15 November 1727 [IGI, from printed Registers]. Clergyman, of Derriquin Castle, co. Kerry. He married 1stly, Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Julian. He married 2ndly, Barbara Nash. By his first wife he had with other issue:
1b. Francis Christopher Bland, of Derriquin Castle, co. Kerry, D.L., J.P. He died 16 September 1838. He had married 15 March 1798, Lucinda Herbert, daughter of Arthur Bastable Herbert, of Brewsterfield, co. Kerry [Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 576]. They had with other issue:
1c. James Franklin Bland, born 24 January 1799. Of Derriquin Castle, co. Kerry, J.P.; High Sheriff, 1835. He died 6 March 1863. He had married and had issue [Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 129].
2b. Letitia Bland. She married her second cousin Nathaniel Bland, Major in the Army. They had issue:
1c. Nathaniel Bland. Archdeacon of Aghadoe. He died 25 February 1885.
Revd Nathaniel Bland married 2ndly, Lucy Heaton, younger daughter and co-heir of Francis Heaton, of Mount Heaton, King's County [her eldest sister Sarah married Francis Lumm, of Lumville, the father of Sir Francis Lumm, Baronet (created 24 February 1775; extinct 1797) [Burke's Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies (1841) 610; CB v (1906) 384; Arthur Aspinall, Mrs Jordan and her family (1951) 57]. By her he had further issue:
3a. Francis Bland, born 1736. Captain in Army. He died at Dover (on way to France on account of ill health), 2 January 1778; buried at St Mary, Dover, as of Dublin, 4 January 1778 [TS copy of Registers at SoG]; portrait in MGetH 4S ii (1907) 288. His administration granted at Dublin, 1778. From 1758 he lived with but did not marry, Grace Phillips [see below; there is no evidence that they married or, as frequently stated (e.g. Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 129), that a Catholic marriage was annulled because they were under age]. She seems to have been born in England or Wales, c.1740; to have gone to Dublin as an actress, October 1756; to have lived in London, 1760-1; to have returned to Dublin; and to have been abandoned there by Francis Bland, 1774 (he married that year); actress on York circuit as 'Mrs Francis'. She died at Edinburgh, on tour with her daughter, 1789. By her he had issue (? order):
1b. George Bland. Actor and singer, possibly at York as 'Master Francis', 1785; at London, 1786; Leeds, 1787; Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Richmond (Yorkshire); Liverpool, 1789; London, 1790-95; of 93 Strand, London, 1793; of 12 St Albans Street, London, 1794; withdrew from London stage, 1796, in debt; lived on sister Mrs Jordan [Arthur Aspinall, Mrs Jordan and her family (1951) 66]; went to America and acted at New York and Boston in name 'Wilson', 1802-5. He died 'about four months since, in the utmost poverty and indigence, poor Bland, brother of Mrs Jordan' at Boston, Massachusetts, 1807 [GM November 1807 ii 1075; Highfill ii (1973) 159-62]. As of St Marylebone he had married at St Paul Covent Garden, Middlesex, 21 October 1790, Maria Theresa Romanzini [Registers; GM 1790 956, 'brother of Mrs Jordan']. She was born at Caen, Normandy, France, 9 September 1770, and baptised at Notre Dame, Caen, 10 September 1770, as Maria Theresa Catherine Tersi, daughter of Alexander Tersi, strolling player from Rome, and his wife Catherine Zeli, a Jewess from Florence. Singer and actress as Miss Romanzini, 1773-1822; 'perfect as an English ballad-singer' [DNB; Boase; Highfill ii (1973) 162-9]; deserted husband, 1795; she ived with and beween 1798 and 1801 had at least three children by Thomas Caulfield, comedian, but he left her to act in America, 1806 and died in Kentucky, 1815; she taught singing, 1822; became an imbecile, 1824. She died at Broadway, Westminster, 15 January 1838; buried at St Margaret, Westminster, 25 January 1838. They had issue (the children born between 1798 and 1801 were by Thomas Caulfield):
1c. George Bland, probably the child born 14 September 1791. Named in will of grandmother Catherine Romanzini, 1798; entered Navy, 15 January 1806; Midshipman, 3 March 1808; prisoner in France, 1812-4; Lieutenant, 11 February 1815; Half Pay, 1832; Naval Knight of Windsor, 1834; as son present at funeral of mother, 1838 [Freeman's Journal, 24 January 1838, 2e; Highfill ii (1967) 167; W.R. O'Byrne, Naval Biographical Dictionary (1849) 90]. His will as of Travers College, New Windsor, Berkshire, dated 27 December 1851, proved (by Ann Smith, widow, housekeeper, sole legatee and executrix, 5 April 1852 [PCC, PROB11/2150].
2c. ... (daughter) twin with next [GM 1792; Morning Herald, 15 August 1792]; perhaps the child burned to death [reported 4 March 1800; Highfill, ii (1967) 165].
3c. ... (daughter) twin with last. Perhaps the Miss Bland who sang at Sadler's Wells, 1801 [Highfill, ii (1967) 167].
4c. Thomas Bland, born 29 March 1796 and baptised at St Paul Covent Garden, Middlesex, 10 May 1796 (as son of George & Theresa Bland). Named in will of grandmother Catherine Romanzini, 1798.
5c. James Caulfield Bland, born 8 March 1798 and baptised at St Mary, Ealing, Middlesex, base born son of Maria Bland, 16 July 1809 [Registers]. Named in will of grandmother Catherine Romanzini, 13 September 1798; singer, later actor of burlesque from 1822, called 'King of Extravaganza'. As her son, actor and vocalist at the Olympic Theatre, present at funeral of mother, 1838 [The Examiner, 21 January 1838, 10a]. He died suddenly at the stage door of the Strand Theatre, Surrey Street, London, 17 July 1861 [Boase i 308; Highfill, ii (1967) 167]; no W/A 1861-3.
6c. William Bland. Named in will of grandmother Catherine Romanzini, 13 September 1798. Perhaps died young.
7c. George Henry Caulfield Bland, born 24 April 1800 and baptised at St Mary, Ealing, Middlesex, base son of Maria Bland, 16 July 1809 [Registers]. Present at funeral of mother as Henry Bland, fourth son, of New Street, Leicester, 1838 [Leicestershire Mercury, 20 January 1838, 3e]. Of New Street, Leicester, as George Bland, professor of dancing, aged 35, 1841 [HO107/605-7-59v]. Of Leicester, ten years, dancing master, bankrupt, 1843 [Leicestershire Mercury, 4 November 1843]. As Henry Bland, aged 49, professor of music, at 108 Strand, Savoy, Westminster, 1851 [HO107/2522-285-2/3]. As Henry Bland he died (leaving issue) at 22 Golden Square, Middlesex, 8 April 1886, aged 85; buried at Brompton Cemetery, 13 April 1886 [Registers, Entry 131843]. His will proved Principal Registry, 22 June 1886 [P.E. £35; GRO 1a 312]. He had married 1stly, at St Pancras, Middlesex, 1828, Angelina Bundock. aged 30 in 1841; aged 39 in 1851, born Hamburgh. She died in London, December Quarter 1856, aged 46, and was buried from James Street, Covent Garden, at Brompton Cemetery, 8 November 1856 [Registers, Entry 14381; GRO 1b 266]. As professor of dancing, son of Thomas Bland, gentleman, deceased, he married 2ndly by banns at All Souls, Marylebone, 27 April 1857, Anna Turlington, daughter of George Turlington, tailor [Registers, Entry 105, Page 53]. Executrix to husband, 1886.
8c. Charles Caulfield Bland, born 14 August 1801, and baptised at St Mary, Ealing, Middlesex, base son of Maria Bland, 16 July 1808 [Registers]. Singer at Covent Garden, 1824-38; present at funeral of mother, 1838 [Freeman's Journal, 'late of Covent Garden', 24 January 1838, 2e; Highfill, ii (1967) 168].
Note: Highfill incorrectly adds Humphrey Bland, 'perhaps born April 1800' [the date that George was born], as the fourth son of Mrs Maria Bland and noted him as 'Mr H. Bland, of Leicester' present at her funeral in 1838 [Highfill, ii (1967) 167] and as the actor at the Surrey Theatre, 1834, who married 1stly, Miss Somerville, actress (died Liverpool, October 1838) and 2ndly, Harriet Faucit, actress (sister to Helen Faucit), who made her debut in London, 1843, and died in America, 5 November 1847 [Highfill, ii (1967) 168]. However, this Humphrey Bland was almost certainly the child Humphry Williams Bland, born 8 July 1811, and baptised at St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey, 11 August 1811, illegitimate son of Humphry Bland and Ann Elsmure [Registers, Page 327]. As Humphrey William Eastmare Bland he married 1stly, by licence at St Saviour, Southwark, 10 May 1835, Isabella Somerville, of St Paul, Covent Garden [Registers, Pge 17, Entry 30]. [They had a child William Eastmure Bland, born 10 September 1838 and baptised at St Luke, Liverpool, 24 September 1838, when the father was described as William Humphrey Eastmure Bland.] She died in Liverpool RD, September Quarter 1838 [GRO Death Index 20 264]. As Humphrey William Eastmore Bland, aged 28, widower, son of Humphrey Bland, field officer, he married 2ndly, by licence at West Derby, Liverpool, 12 November 1839, Harriet Saville, aged 28 [the Bond dated 5 November 1839 gives his name as Humphrey William Eastman Bland, of Walton on the Hill, widower, she being Harriet Faucit Saville, spinster; the GRO Marriage Index (20 733) gives his name as William Enshmere Bland]. The couple (and his son William aged 6) went from Liverpool to New York as cabin passengers on the Cambridge, arriving 20 August 1845. He was in New York, aged 41, with his son William, in 1850. He died there, 17 January 1869, aged 57. His father Humphrey Bland has not been identified with certainty, but seems likely to be Lt. Col. Humphrey Dalrymple Bland, Major, 47 Foot, 1804; Lt. Col. 1810; who was in the Peninsula, from November 1808 to April 1811, and died in India, 1815. He had married in Dublin, July 1793, Mary Graham, of James Street, Dublin [Hibernian Magazine, July 1793, page 96; Dublin Marriage Licences, 1793, page 355], and had issue an only daughter Ellen Eliza Ann Bland (1796-1877).
2b. Hester Bland, baptised at St Anne Soho, Middlesex, 2 March 1760 [Registers not seen; MF 918,606]. Acted at Hull and York as 'Miss Hester Francis' [Highfill, ii (1973) 159]; named (re Trelethin) in will of uncle Thomas Williams, 1799; lived with brother Nathaniel at Trelethin, St David's, and named in his will, 1824; pensioned by Queen Victoria; of Trelethin, independent, 1841 [HO107/1444-...-...]. She was buried at St David's, as of Trelethin, 8 March 1848, aged 91 [Registers, Entry 1309]; no W/A PCC 1848 or Consistory of St David's 1848-50.
3b. Dorothy Bland, born 22 November 1761 and baptised at St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, 5 December 1761. The actress Mrs Jordan (originally as Miss Francis); she had a daughter by Richard Daly (1758-1813), 1782; was the mistress of Sir Richard Ford (c.1759-1806), 1786-90, having by him two daughters and a son (who died at birth); and was the mistress of William, Duke of Clarence, 1791-1811, having by him five sons and five daughters. She died unmarried at 1 Rue d'Angouleme, Saint-Cloud, Paris, 5 July 1816 [Anthony Camp, Royal Mistresses and Bastards (2007) 256-269, where there is a detailed account of all her children and grandchildren].
4b. Lucy Bland, born 1763-4. She died at Trelethin, St David's, 1778, aged 14; buried there.
5b. Francis Bland. Captain; living 1813 [Tomalin (1995) 261]; lived in Cathedral Close at St David's. He died without issue [MGetH 4S ii (1907) 285].
6b. Nathaniel Phillips Bland, born 1766-7. As Nathaniel Bland, son of Francis Bland, of St Oswald's, Chester, gentleman, admitted at Brasenose College, Oxford, 20 October 1785, aged 18 [Alumni Oxoniensis]; B.A. 1790. Named (re Trelethin) in will of uncle Thomas Williams, 1799. He died 31 May 1830 [Probate record]; buried at St David's, Pembrokeshire, 3 June 1830, as of Trelethin, aged 63 [Registers, Entry 565]. His will as Nathaniel Phillips Bland, in weak state of body, dated 27 December 1824 proved (after death of wife) 10 July 1852 [Consistory of St David's, Registered Wills, No 200, Under £200]. He had married Phoebe James. Named executrix by husband, 1824; at Trelethin, aged 64, independent, 1841 [HO107/1444]. She died 22 June 1852 [Probate record]; buried at St David's, 26 June 1852, as of Trelethin, aged 77 [Registers, Entry 1446]. Her will dated 20 May 1852 proved (by nephew Arthur James) 10 July 1852 [Consistory of St David's, Registered Wills, No 195, Under £100].
Francis Bland, as of St Botolph Aldgate, City of London, married by licence of the Bishop of London dated 23 April 1774 at St Botolph Aldgate, London, 17 May 1774, Catherine Mahony, of St Botolph Aldgate, said to be from Killarney. Administratrix to husband, 1778. They had issue [BLG sub Bland of Derriquin]:
7b. James Francis Bland. Of Killarney, colonel.
8b. Frances Jane Bland. She died 1 January 1854. She had married, 1807, Revd Robert Hewson, son of Revd Francis Hewson, of Ennismore [BLG (1882) sub Hewson of Ovington Park; Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 584]. He was born 1780; M.A.; Perpetual Curate of Kilcolman, co. Kerry; named in will of cousin Nathaniel Bland, 1833. He died 27 May 1840. They had with other issue:
1c. Revd Francis ('Frank') Hewson, born 23 December 1809. Trinity College Dublin, B.A. 1827; M.A. 1832; ordained deacon, 1830; of Inch House, Killarney, from 1831. He died 5 April 1879. He had married 16 January 1839, Emilie Hardy, daughter of John Hardy, of Dunstall Hall, Staffordshire, M.P. for Bedford, and sister of Gathorne (Hardy), 1st Earl of Cranbrook [BP (2003) sub Cranbrook]. She died 14 April 1866. They had issue [BLG (1914) sub Hewson late of Ovington Park; Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 584].
2c. James Bland Hewson. Of Dublin, barrister at law, named in will of father's cousin Nathaniel Bland, 1833.
4a. Nathaniel Bland, born before 1753. As of St James Clerkenwell, Middlesex, aged 21 and over, married by licence of Bishop of London dated 30 August 1774, at St James Clerkenwell, Middlesex, 6 September 1773, Mary Meade, of St James Clerkenwell [Registers]. They had no issue.
5a. George Bland. He married Hannah Westropp, but had no issue.
6a. Lucy Bland. She married 1 August 1759, George Orpen, fourth son of Revd Thomas Orpen, of Killowen, co. Kerry, J.P., Rector of Kenmare [BLG (1882) sub Orpen of Ardtully; Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 937]. In Army, wounded at Minden. He died c.1784. They had issue:
1b. Thomas Orpen. Captain, Kerry Militia. He died unmarried, 1829.
2b. Henry Francis Orpen. Major, 60th Regiment. Killed at Talavera, 1809, unmarried.
3b. Lucy Orpen. She married Captain Alexander Strange. Paymaster, 13th Light Dragoons, 11 April 1811; served Waterloo and in India; Half Pay, 62nd Foot, 1831; Military Knight of Windsor. He died November 1840 [Charles Dalton, Waterloo Roll Call (1904) 78]. They were grandparents of Major-General Thomas Bland Strange, R.A.; in Indian Mutiny, 1857-8; at siege of Lucknow; later commandant School of Gunnery, Quebec [Genealogical Magazine, i (1898) 692].
7a. Hester Bland. As Mrs Sinclair she appeared at Bushy c.1800 and stayed in attendance of Mrs Jordan for many years [Tomalin (1995) 176]; at Bushy, 1813 [Aspinall (1951) 248]. She had married Robert Sinclair, Laird of Freswick, Caithness.
8a. Dorothea Bland. She married Francis Crumpe. They had with other issue:
1b. Nathaniel Crumpe, born 1765-6 [age at burial]; of Liverpool [Boase; son's admission at Oxford], Randall's Park, Leatherhead, Surrey, and Limerick, Ireland, took additional surname Bland, 21 October 1811 [London Gazette, 2054; Grantees of Arms, i 36]. As of 1 Montague Square, buried at All Souls Cemetery, Kensal Green, 7 November 1840, aged 74 [Registers, Entry 4053, Page 230]. His will as Nathaniel Bland of 3 Lower Berkeley Street, Portman Square, Marylebone, and Randall's Park, Leatherhead, dated 20 August 1833 with codicils 22 February 1839 and (of Montagu Square) 26 October 1840 proved 26 November 1840 [PCC folio 745, PROB11/1935]. He had married (before 1794) Arabella O'Neil. Named 'present wife' in will of husband, 1833. He had (perhaps with other) issue:
1c. James Crumpe, born 5 December 1793 and baptised at St Marylebone, Middlesex, 25 January 1794 [Registers].
2c. Frances Crumpe or Bland, born at Neath, Glamorgan, c.1799 [1851 Census]. Aged 40, 1841; aged 51, 1851. She died in Croydon RD, March Quarter 1858 [GRO Death Index, 2a 116]. She had married by licence at St Marylebone, Middlesex, 25 September 1824, John Bateman, [Registers, Entry 824, Page 276]. He was born at Dublin, Ireland, 1892-3 [1851, 1861 Census]; of Oak Park, co. Kerry, Ireland, named in will of father-in-law, 1833; of 15 Robert Street, Chelsea, Middlesex, independent, 1841 [HO107/688-4-7r] and, landed proprietor, 1851 [HO107/1473-152-5]; of Leslie Park Road, Croydon, Surrey, Retired Captain, Kerry Militia, aged 68, 1861 [RG9/449-162-82]. He died at Leslie Terrace, Croydon, 1 October 1863 [PPR Calendar; GRO Death Index, 2a 97]; will proved PPR 27 October 1863 [Under £1,000; resworn July 1865 under £1,500].
3c. Nathaniel Crumpe later Bland, born 6 October 1803 and baptised at St Peter, Liverpool, Lancashire, 29 October 1803 [Registers]. Matriculated, Christ Church, Oxford, 16 October 1821, aged 18; B.A. 1825; M.A. 1845 [Alumni Oxoniensis]; executor to father, 1840; of Randalls House, Leatherhead, Surrey, independent, 1841 [HO107/1070-12-27v]; of 83 Gloster Place, Marylebone, landed proprietor, 1851 [HO107/1489-645-3]; distinguished Persian scholar. He committed suicide at Homburg, 10 August 1865 [Boase; DNB Supplement; ODNB]. He had married Anna Maria Smith. Aged 25, 1841; aged 35, 1851. She was born at Vizagapatam, Madras [1851 Census].
4c. Dorothy Crumpe or Bland. Named in second codicil to will of father, 1840. She had married by licence at St Marylebone, Middlesex, 22 July 1816, Richard Matthew Henry Holland [Registers, Entry 481, Page 161]. They had issue:
1d. Frederick Holland, Lieutenant, 21st Regiment of Fusiliers. Named in second codicil to will of grandfather, 1840.
5c. Isabella Crumpe or Bland. Named in will of father, 1833. She married ... de Sorbein. He died before 1833 [will of father-in-law]. They had issue:
1d. Frederick de Sorbein. Named in second codicil to will of grandfather as under age, 1840.
Mrs Jordan's Mother
Details of the family of Mrs Jordan's mother, Grace Phillips, are very sketchy and need further research. Grace is generally stated to have been the daughter of a Welsh clergyman (who lived in the early 1750s in Bristol) but he has not been identified with certainty. Her maternal grandfather seems likely to have been:
Revd. Scudamore Phillips, born c.1659-60; admitted pensioner at Trinity College, Dublin, 20 July 1681, aged 21 [Alumni Dublinenses]; presumably the man of that name admitted Curate at Lampeter Velfrey, Pembrokeshire, 27 June 1688 [NLW SD/VC/2]; he seems likely to be the Mr Phillips of neighbouring Kiffig/Cyffic, Carmarthenshire, 1702 [son's admittance to Oxford], who had issue:
Revd. Richard Phillips, born c.1685-6; admitted to Jesus College, Oxford, 15 May 1702, aged 16 [Alumni Oxoniensis]; possibly (because of the descent of the name Scudamore in the family) the father of Grace Phillips; Grace's father was said to have been the vicar of Jordanston, Pembrokeshire [Genealogical Magazine (1898) 584], was called 'Revd Dr Phillips of Waterford' [The Ancestor, viii (1904) 51] and 'Revd Phillips of Carmarthenshire' [Burke's Irish Family Records (1976) 129]; her father was also said to have lived at Trelethin, St David's, Pembrokeshire, a house actually occupied by Grace's brother-in-law Thomas Williams. An Edward Phillipps, B.A., was Rector of Jordanston, Pembrokeshire, 2 October 1766 (presented by John Vaughan of Jordanston, Esq.), but had been instituted to another living by 14 August 1772 ['Pembrokeshire Parsons' in West Wales Historical Records, ii (1912) 214-5].
Whoever he was he had married before 1720 and had issue at least four daughters (their order of birth is not known):
1a. Blanche Scudamore Phillips, born c.1719-20 [age aat burial]. She died 1788; buried at St David's, Pembrokeshire, from Trelethin, 7 January 1788, aged 68 [Registers]. She settled the Trelethin estate on Nathaniel and Esther Bland after the death of her husband [his will]. As of St David's she had married by licence (signing as Blanch Scudamore Philipps) at St David's, Pembrokeshire, 10 August 1758, as his 1st wife, Thomas Williams, of White Church, Pembrokeshire [Registers; MGetH 4S ii (1907) 285] and of Trelethin (or Treleddyn), a double-pile 17th century house at St David's [F. Jones, Historic houses of Pembrokeshire and their families (1996) 211; it is not a parish with its own church as stated in MGetH and Tomalin]; the house came into the Bland family through this connection. Thomas Williams, of Treleddyn, is said to have been the first man to see the French fleet, 1797; he owned the sloop Phoebe at Solva, 1799; Mrs Jordan is said to have leased the house and to have been regularly visited there by the Duke of Clarence [F. Jones, op.cit.]. Thomas Williams died without issue; his undated will as of Trelethin (mentioning property at St David's and St Elvis, Pembrokeshire, and ships Fair Britain and Mary), proved 24 December 1799 [PCC, PROB11/1334]. He had married 2ndly, Margaretta Theodosia Harries. Executrix to husband, 1799. Her will as of Heathfield, Pembrokeshire, widow, dated 3 June 1811 proved (by her nephew John Hill Harries) 4 July 1811 [PCC, PROB11/1524].
2a. Miss Phillips. Actress, perhaps at London, 1756; at Dublin, 1758-61; Belfast, 1761; Dublin, 1764-8; London, May 1772; York, 1773 & 1783; not named in will of husband and presumably dead, 1802 [Highfill, xv (1993) 91]. She had married in Dublin [Tomalin (1994) 11], by autumn 1758, Howard Usher. Actor in London (occasionally at Richmond and Bristol), 1739-58; Dublin, 1758-61; Belfast, 1761; Dublin 1764-8 (at Cork, 1765 & 1766); London, 1774-99 (perhaps at Brighton, 1776; at Richmond, 1777). He died April 1802. His will as late of Theatre Royal, Haymarket, now lodging at 12 Cross Street, Carnaby Market, dated 4 April 1802 proved 12 April 1802 [PCC, PROB11/1373; Highfill, xv (1993) 87-91]. They had issue:
1b. Miss Usher. Actress, perhaps at Bristol, 1778-9; Belfast, 1784; Ennis, 1790 [Highfill, xv (1993) 90].
3a. Maria Phillips. Actress in London, February-May, 1756; Bristol, July-August 1756; Dublin, November 1756 - autumn 1760; York, 1766-82. She died at York shortly after August 1782 [Tomalin (1995) 26-27; Highfill, xi (1987) 286-7].
4a. Grace Phillips, probably born in England or Wales, c.1740. Spent part of childhood in Bristol [Tomalin (1994) 11]; went with elder sister Maria to Dublin to act, October 1756. She lived with Francis Bland (1736-1778) and had six children by him between c.1758 and c.1766 (two were born in London, 1758-61, see above); she returned to Dublin and was abandoned there by Francis Bland, before April 1774 (when he married in London); actress on York circuit as 'Mrs Francis'. On tour with her daughter Dora, she died at Edinburgh, 1789 [Tomalin (1995) 92-3].
An unplaced Bland Phillips, presumably related, was buried at St David's, 21 November 1821, as of St David's, aged 30 [Registers, Entry 285].
This page added 2 June 2009; amended 20 May 2011; 25 June 2011; 3 February 2014; 18-19 November 2020.