Helen Cecelia Black

Helen Cecelia Black (née Spottiswoode; 12 November 1836 – 8 February 1906) was an English journalist, best known for the series of interviews with women writers published in book form in 1893 as Notable Women Authors of the Day.

Life
Helen Spottiswoode was born in Cawnpore, Bengal, India, the daughter of Maj.-Gen. Arthur Cole Spottiswoode and Jessy Eliza Loveday. In 1856, she married Thomas Black, a captain and company manager for P&O. She founded St Mary's Cottage Hospital, a charity hospital specializing in leg ailments, in Southampton in 1872. After her husband's death in 1879, she moved to London and worked as a journalist for periodicals including the Lady’s Pictorial, Womanhood, Black and White, The Sketch and Queen. Her friends included Sarah Grand and Marie Corelli.

Works

 * Notable women authors of the day; biographical sketches, 1893
 * Pen, pencil, baton and mask; biographical sketches, 1896
 * From Deal to South Africa, 1901