He published over 50 books and was recognised as a realist in his writing style,[1] and was considered by some as a successor to Anthony Trollope.

[5] Not wishing to join his father's shipping company, he had first intended to be a clergyman and studied theology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he befriended Bertram Fletcher Robinson[6] and Vaughan Williams amongst others.

He befriended John, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, who invited him to be editor of The Car, which was first issued in August 1903.

Marshall befriended G. K. Chesterton, and helped him to obtain a position at the Daily News whilst he held this post.

[10] Marshall left the Daily Mail in 1911, hoping to make a living from writing novels, and he moved to Switzerland with his family in 1913.