Jordan's mother, Grace Phillips, who was also known as Mrs. Frances, was a Dublin actress. Her father, a man named Bland, was probably a stagehand. She made her stage debut in 1777 in Dublin as Phoebe in As You Like It, and in 1779 she played in Henry Fielding's farce The Virgin Unmasked at the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin. She then acted with the provincial company of Tate Wilkinson until 1785, when she played in London. She retired in 1814.

Dorothea had a daughter by her first manager in Dublin, 3 children by Richard Ford, whose name she bore for some years, and 10 children by the duke of Clarence (later William IV). The children by the duke were ennobled under the name of FitzClarence; the eldest was created the earl of Munster. When she and the duke separated by mutual consent in 1811, she received a handsome allowance. In 1815 she went to France and died there the following year, although there is a legend that she returned to England and lived for several more years. She was the subject of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, and George Romney.