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Daughter of a transatlantic Jewish mercantile dynasty, Isabella grew up in Teddington. She converted to Christianity to marry William Henry Cooper, son of a famous politician. However, after her-hoped for inheritance proved illusory he ran off with his lover, Lady Cadogan, returning twenty years later, having been interned in France by Napoleon . Aged 64, Isabella finally inherited the Jamaican estate, and a vast property at Isleworth. Now Lady Cooper, she worked on improvements there, aided by King William IV. Isabella inherited the West Indian estates shortly before enslavement was abolished in 1833, but continued to take a lively interest in the plantations and the compensation process. Isabella’s trustees also received £6,379 12s 5d in compensation for the 336 people she enslaved in Jamaica. In the 1840s, indentured labourers from Sierra Leone arrived to replace workers who had gained their freedom. Their experiences reveal that emancipation was not a happy ending to the Caribbean story.
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