Marion was born in 1827, the daughter of Norman MacLeod and Ann Shaw of old Borve. Her mother died when she was about seven years old and her father remarried, moving the family to Quay.

Marion's daughter Mary was born in 1861, and they, too lived as cottars at Quay. In 1881 Marion was working as a domestic servant. It appears that once Mary married she continued to live with her mother, since Marion's four grandchildren were born at Quay.