Susan Ferrier

Susan Edmonstone Ferrier (7 September 1782 – 5 November 1854) was a Scottish novelist. Her novels, giving vivid accounts of Scottish life and presenting sharp views on women's education, remained popular throughout the 19th century.

Life

Susan Ferrier was the youngest daughter of Helen Coutts (1741–1797) (daughter of Robert Coutts, a farmer near Montrose) and James Ferrier (1744–1829), Writer to the Signet and one of the principal clerks of the Court of Session, in which office he was a colleague of Sir Walter Scott. Her father came from Linlithgow. She was probably born at Lady Stair's Close, Edinburgh, as the ninth of ten surviving children. The family moved in 1784 to 11 (now 25) George Street in the New Town.

Ferrier was privately educated. Through her family she came to know many notable Edinburgh people, including Scott and the novelist Henry Mackenzie. In 1797 her father took her to Inveraray, home of his client and patron John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll. She became a friend of the family, especially of a granddaughter, Charlotte Clavering (died 1869), with whom she corresponded. Clavering was initially involved in the writing of Ferrier's first novel Marriage, although ultimately her contribution was limited to the section entitled "The History of Mrs Douglas". Some letters between Ferrier and Clavering appear in the front matter of a six-volume edition of the novels.

After her mother died, Ferrier kept house for her father, as her three older sisters were married. Like many well-to-do Edinburgh families, they took a house outside the city in the summer, East Morningside House. While there she wrote The Inheritance. She still wished her work to appear anonymously, but her identity was widely known by then.