She was born in Bo'ness in West Lothian, Scotland, and her father was John Marshall, JP, an earthenware manufacturer.
Between 1901 and 1904 she was the superintendent of a hall of residence for female students at the University of Glasgow, but, otherwise, she appears to have made her living throughout her life by writing.
The book went out of print in the 1960s, but in 2005, an alliance of the Civitas think-tank and various national newspapers reprinted it, with the aim of sending a free copy to each of the UK's primary schools.
In 2010, then British Prime Minister David Cameron cited Our Island Story as his favourite childhood book.
[2] Her works entered the public domain in Australia on 1 January 1992, after 50 full years from her death, per the Berne Convention on copyright.