Her mother was Maria Chowne (born Tilson) and her father was William Marsh, a clergyman with whom she lived all her life.

She decided to write about the short life of a Christian soldier and Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars was published in 1855.

[1] That book led to an exchange of letters with Julia Wightman who was an advocate for Temperance in Shrewsbury.

[2] Marsh published The Life of Arthur Vandeleur, Major, Royal Artillery in 1862.

[1] Five years after her death in 1917, The Life and Friendships of Catherine Marsh by Lucy Elizabeth Marshall O'Rorke was published.