 Susan Helen Couper Black (or Cowper Black in some sources) was born in Wigtown, Scotland, to George Couper Black (1820–c.1874), procurator fiscal and banker, and his wife, Ellen, née Barham (1823–after 1877 from Penzance), the second of four siblings.One of her brothers, John McConnell Black, later became a well-known botanist.