About Susanna Keir
Lived 1747 – 1802 (aged 54–55). Susanna Keir was a novelist.
Susanna Keir, née Harvey (1747 – 20 November 1802) was a British novelist. Her two novels, "largely in epistolatory form, are long on moralizing and short on action."
Life Susanna Harvey married the chemist and poet James Keir, a friend of Erasmus Darwin and Joseph Priestley and supporter of the French Revolution. At the time of their marriage, another acquaintance, William Small, wrote "Mr Keir has turned glassmaker at Stourbridge and has married a beauty".
Though his manufacturing business was based in Birmingham and Dudley, Susanna wrote her novels while living in Edinburgh. The couple had two children. Their son Francis died in infancy,
Keir is one of the "lost" women writers listed by Dale Spender in Mothers of the Novel: 100 Good Women Writers Before Jane Austen.
Works ("by a lady") Interesting Memoirs, 1785. ("by the author of Interesting Memoirs") The History of Miss Greville, Dublin, Edinburgh & London, 1787.
Don’t just read it —
keep it.
Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.
- E-book
- Audio
- Video
Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free
Important facts
People in Susanna Keir's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Susanna Keir's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Susanna Keir?
British novelist
When was Susanna Keir born?
Susanna Keir was born in 1747.
When did Susanna Keir die?
Susanna Keir died in 1802.
What was Susanna Keir's occupation?
Susanna Keir was a novelist.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Susanna Keir. https://biography.guide/susanna-keir/
MLA: "Susanna Keir." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/susanna-keir/.
Chicago: "Susanna Keir." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/susanna-keir/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Page generated 2026-09-27 05:11 UTC