Betty's Hope was Antigua's first sugar plantation, founded in 1651 by then Governor Christopher Keynell.  Upon his death in 1663, it was inherited by his widow Dame Joan Hall, who had to flee Antigua due to the French occupation of the island from 1666 to 1674.  When the British regained control of Antigua, the British Parliament annulled all prior land claims of those who had fled the island.  King Charles II then gave the property to Barbados resident at the time Col. Christopher Codrington (ca. 1640-1698).  Col. Codrington named the property Betty's Hope in honor of his daughter.  Col. Codrington was appointed Captain-General of the British Leeward Islands from 1689 to 1698 and in addition to Betty’s Hope, he received a fifty year renewable lease for the neighboring island of Barbuda.

While still in Barbados, under Col. Codrington orders sugarcane was planted and Betty's Hope lands increased, eventually covering more than one thousand acres.  Betty's Hope was equipped with the newest methods for cultivating sugarcane and became the island's first large scale sugar plantation.  Around four hundred slaves worked Betty's Hope during its heydays when it could produce 12 m.t. of sugar per season.  The success of Betty's Hope proved to other landowners on the island that sugar was a viable and lucrative crop, turning them away from their largely unsuccessful tobacco cultivation. 

In 1683, Col. Codrington decided to leave Barbados and settled in Antigua. By the mid 1680s he had joined the council and was wielding great power and influence.  Betty's Hope even served briefly as the Government House during the time Col. Codrington was Governor of Antigua and Captain-General of the British Leeward Islands.

Upon the death of Col. Codrington in 1698, the plantation was inherited by his son Christopher Codrington (1664-1710) who was also Captain-General of the British Leeward Islands from 1869 to 1704, always lived in Barbados and never married or had children.  Betty's Hope was then inherited by his nephew William Codrington 1st Baronet of Dodington.  From there on the descendants of William Codrington were absentee owners living at Dodington Park in England. 

By 1752 the Codrington’s owned several plantations in Antigua including Betty's Hope, Potworks, Cotton New Work and Cotton Old Work also known as Garden, all which totaled one thousan six hundred eighty nine acres of continuously adjoining lands.  The family holdings also included the lease of the island of Barbuda. Sir Gerald W. H. Codrington sold Betty's Hope in 1944 to the Antigua Syndicate Estates Ltd. ​ Today, owned by the Government of Antigua, Betty's Hope is a well kept museum.  Its two windmills stand but have not been operational since ca. 1850 when steam was introduced to the estate.  The sugar mill machinery now housed in its tower is not the original machinery, it was removed from the Thibous Plantation.