Born in Dunedin in 1906, Marley was the daughter of Arthur Pidgeon and his wife Jane Dickenson Ross. She grew up in Sawyers Bay, Whanganui, Palmerston North and Auckland. Her father worked with the railways and consequently the family moved around the country.
After leaving Palmerston North Girls" High School, Marley began working as a clerk at Milne & Choyce department store in Auckland, aged 14. The couple went on to have two children. Marley died in Wellington in 2002, and her ashes were buried in Kelvin Grove Cemetery, Palmerston North.
She was the New Zealand 220 yards breaststroke champion every year from 1925 and 1931, except in 1929 when she was second to Lily Copplestone. Although recording a personal best, she finished sixth in the final of the 200 yards breaststroke, which was won by Cecelia Wolstenholme of England in world-record time.
