Isidore Levinson was the late wealthy, Jewish^[1] husband of Martha - and the father of Cora and Harold - who had made his fortune as a dry goods merchant in Cincinnati. Isidore tied up his money well - so that Cora and Harold got equal shares - Cora after he was gone and Harold after Martha was gone^[2] - made sure that Martha was taken care of with a "generous income" and made sure that no-one could touch the capital generated from his fortune so that it would not be lost; all of this was done before his possibly premature death^[3].

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ The book The Chronicles of Downton Abbey confirms that Isidore was Jewish
2. ↑ In Episode 3.02 Mary says that Harold will inherit Martha's money "after she is gone", meaning that he has not yet inherited it.
3. ↑ In Episode 3.02 Martha claims that Isidore tied up his money well thinking that the Crawley family had "had quite enough" and made sure that Martha could not "touch the capital" while also made sure that she was well taken care of - she claims her income is "generous" - and was "taken"; when Martha says this was like Violet's husband, Violet said her husband wasn't taken but "died" giving credence to the fact that Isidore died prematurely.