Her father was known as the novelist Ralph Connor, but his real name was the Reverend Dr Charles Gordon.

[3] Smart became a civil servant and the secretary to Britain's High Commissioner Malcolm MacDonald until 1946.

She converted to the Canadian diplomatic service in 1947 after the rules were changed and women were allowed to take the necessary exams.

She resigned that post when she became the second wife of the Australian consul-general, Edward Kenneth Smart DSO, in 1953.

[1] In 2024, the 60th anniversary of the founding of Melbourne's St Hilda's College opened with the "Marjorie Smart Oration".