Agnes Jordan

Agnes Jordan (before 1520 – 29 January 1546) was the last pre-reformation Abbess of Syon Monastery. It was she who had to sign the deed of surrender on 25 November 1539 which brought to an abrupt end the life of the abbey and granted all its property and wealth to Henry VIII. She was the sister of Isabel Jordan, prioress and later abbess of Wilton Abbey.

Biography The exact birth year of Agnes Jordan is unknown, but it is known that she had a sister, Isabel Jordayne, who also became a nun and abbess at Wilton Abbey. Nothing is known about her life before 1520, when she was elected as the abbess, succeeding Constance Browne (1518-1520; d.1520) who died during the same year.

Syon Abbey was suppressed and dissolved on 25 November 1539 by Henry VIII. Jordan was forced to sign a deed of surrender, She was buried on 9 February 1546 at Denham, Buckinghamshire. Her Funerary Brass is now held in Denham Church, Bucks and her tombstone has since been lost, probably sometime between 1840 and 1904. The tombstone read: