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.Susan Ferrier was the youngest daughter of Helen (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 the 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 George Street in Edinburgh's New Town.Ferrier was privately educated. Through her family she came to know many notable Edinburgh people, including Sir Walter Scott and the novelist Henry Mackenzie. In 1797 her father took her in 1797 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 1841), with whom she corresponded. Clavering was initially involved in the writing of Ferrier's first novel Marriage,