She was the daughter of Margaret Ethel (née Maynard) and John Beverley Peden; her father was a professor of law.

[5] She also captained her school's cricket team and at her direction the girls side began bowling overarm rather than underarm.

In 1928 Peden helped found a Women's Cricket Association for New South Wales and was named the inaugural honorary secretary of the body.

She was described as bowling a "deadly ball" ahead of the series,[12] and in addition to captaining her State she was also responsible for managing the organization of the matches themselves which she found took up the majority of her time.

[18] She became involved in a minor controversy that year because as of March 1932 skirts were again required in women's cricket accompanied with white stockings fully covering legs, and that month the South Sydney women's side was disqualified by the NSW Association after winning the state second grade competition for breaching this protocol, with Peden defending the decision claiming that the side had been properly warned before being disqualified, but the captain of the side claimed that they had only played with bare legs once and desisted after being warned.

[26] In September 1933 she reported that New Zealand was going to participate in the 1934 women's interstate Carnival in February, and that she felt that an England tour could not take place until the 1934/35 season.

[40] In July a cable was received from London ordering that women must wear white stockings in matches during the tour, and Peden commented that this was unnecessary since it was already the policy of the New South Wales Association.

[41] In August she represented NSW at a meeting of the Australian Women's Cricket Council in Brisbane held to determine how the Australian side to play England would be selected,[42] helped women's cricketers from the Sydney North Shore to organize a concert to raise funds for the England tour,[43] and was officially appointed to a committee to arrange the programme of the English side in New South Wales.

[45] In September 1934 the women's cricket season opened with a special match to raise funds for the England tour with the Kuring-gai women's club, captained by Peden, playing a men's "Father's and Friends" team captained by Charlie Macartney,[46] with Peden's side winning.

[47] The same month she represented New South Wales at the All-Australia Women's Cricket Council meeting in Brisbane at which it was announced that there were to be three 'Tests' in the England series.

[49] In October she captained a women students team in a match against the male staff of the University of Sydney held to raise funds for the England tour,[50] and a report in October noted she was in excellent form with the bat and would likely captain New South Wales in the states game against England.

[52] Also in November it was proposed that numbers be worn on uniforms for the England tour, however Peden rejected the idea arguing that the scoreboard would enable players to be identified and also reasoning that cricket was a team sport with a focus on individuals being best avoided.

[53] In November 1934 the English women's team arrived in Australia in Fremantle, Western Australia and Peden greeted the side when they arrived in Melbourne representing New South Wales alongside representatives of the Queensland and Victorian women's cricket Associations,[54] and she was selected as Captain of the New South Wales side to play England in late November with a report noting she had improved remarkably over the 1934/35 season and merited selection on her play as well as her cricket knowledge.