Marigold was born in Brighton in 1935. Her parents moved to Brighton (from Brixton, London) just before she was born because her father suffered with TB. Both her parents were strong socialists and Marigold has always belonged - as an adult, and contimues to be, a member of the Labour Party.
As an adult, Marigold lived when first married, in South London- in Annerley (later to inspire her choice of name for one of her children) but moved to Brighton with her husband and one child in 1964 when Jonathon, born in 1963 was a year old
I would never move away - I love it; I'm rooted here, totally and
completely. I'm aware of all its imperfections but nowhere's perfect.
By the 1980s, Marigold had 4 children AND was a single parent living in Preston Drove near the Fiveways. She worked part-time as a French teacher in local secondary schools and was a passionate campaigner for CND as were her children, teenagers during this period.
Although she had denied earlier in the 1980s that she was a feminist, a statement which angered her eldest daughter Mim, she later recognised that ofcourse she was; and studying for an M.A. Women in Education in the late 1980s, she was able to explore this aspect of herself. During this period, she met her current partner, Jenn, and they both moved to Princes Road (Round Hill Conservation area), where they still live.