July 1790

This is part of a local history note on performances at Richmond's Theatre Royale. See the start of this local history note.

Plays:

• R.B. Sheridan, A Trip to Scarborough
• The Death of Captain Cook ("Pantomime Ballet", author unknown)

The Company

The Company included:

George Bland (died 1807)

George Bland was the brother of Mrs Jordan and the illegitimate son of Francis Bland. In later life he appeared in America under the stage name of Wilson. Among the parts he played at the Richmond Theatre were Captain Harcourt in Sophia Lee’s Chapter of Accidents in October 1789 and Osmyn in The Sultan in June 1790. That same year he married the actress and singer Maria Theresa Romanzini who had been playing in Dublin at the same time as Mrs Jordan.

Dorothea (or Dorothy) Jordan (1761 to 1816)

Dorothea Jordan was born near Waterford, Ireland, the illegitimate daughter of the actress Grace Phillips and Francis Bland. Since Bland’s family had made her mother an allowance for some time on condition that the children did not use the Bland surname, Dorothy was originally billed as ‘Miss Francis’. When the allowance ceased, Dorothy’s brother George took his father’s name. On the evidence of extant playbills, Mrs Jordan’s debut seems to have been at Dublin in November 1779, in The Virgin Unmasked. But earlier dates have been given by various writers including Joseph Knight in the Dictionary of National Biography where he states that she was playing Phoebe in In You Like It (also in Dublin) as early as 1777. On coming to England, she was befriended by the actor/manager Tate Wilkinson and appeared at several provincial theatres on his circuit. It was he who claimed to have suggested the name "Jordan" to her, having jokingly referred to her ‘crossing the water’; it was about this time that she first adopted the name. While performing in the provinces she was seen by the actor William Smith, who was instrumental in her moving to London. She made her debut at Drury Lane in October 1785 as Peggy in The Country Girl, one of her most celebrated roles which she later (on 3^rd August 1801) performed at Richmond. Other parts played at Richmond included Dorinda in Dryden’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (September 1793) and Rosalind in As You Like It (August 1802). Her talents were better suited to comedy than tragedy and her "breeches" roles were great favourites with audiences. These included Sir Harry Wildair in Farquhar’s Constant Couple, which she played at Richmond on 29th June 1789, and William in Brooke’s Rosina. Mrs Jordan’s domestic life, in the words of Joseph Knight, was "brilliant rather than happy." By Richard Daly, her first manager, she had a daughter who became an actress. By Richard Ford she had 4 children and by the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, she had 10, 7 of whom were born at Bushey House in Teddington. She separated from the Duke in 1811. Her final appearance took place at Margate in August 1815 after which she went to France where she died on 3^rd July 1816. Mrs Jordan’s performances received high praise from men like Hazlitt, Byron, Lamb and Joshua Reynolds. Leigh Hunt wrote that she seemed to speak "with all her soul; her voice poignant with melody, delights the ear with a peculiar and exquisite fullness and with an emphasis that appears the result of perfect conviction."

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 to 1816)

The dramatist and statesman regularly visited Richmond and lived in Downe House on Richmond Hill from 1806 to 1815. His plays were frequently performed at the Theatre Royal, the patriotic melodrama Pizaro being particularly popular. A Trip to Scarborough was his adaptation of Vanbrugh’s Relapse. Sheridan was well acquainted with Mrs Jordan although Joseph Farington states in his diary that he was afraid of her "as a mouse of a cat."