Arthur Marshall was the son of William and Mary Elizabeth Oakden (née Marshall).
His father William was born in 1853 at Nottingham, his mother Mary Elizabeth in 1854 at Bawtry, Nottinghamshire. They were married at Bawtry St Nicholas on 10 April 1880 and had seven children, six born in Nottingham and the youngest in Retford: Irene Mary b. 1881; Edward b. 1882 bap. Sneinton St Albans 31 August 1882; Margaret Helen b. 1883 bap. Nottingham St John 28 February 1883; Wiliam Marshall birth registered 1887 (J/F/M) bap. Nottingham St John 23 January 1887; George Marshall b. 1888 bap. Nottingham St John 19 April 1888; Arthur Marshall b. 4 April 1889 bap. Nottingham Emmanuel 17 May 1889 and Katherine Winifred b. 1893 bap. Retford St Swithun 6 June 1893.
In 1881, the year after their marriage, William (28), a bank clerk, and Mary (27) were living at 10 Mansfield Grove, Nottingham. He employed one general domestic servant.
They were living on Forest Road, Nottingham, in 1887 and 1888 when two of their children were baptised at St John's church, but had moved to 7 Vickers Street by 1889 and were recorded there on the 1901 Census along with their children: Irene (9), Edward (8), Margaret (7), Wiliam (3), George (3) and Arthur (2). Also in the household were two domestic servants
William and Mary Elizabeth had moved to The Square, East Retford, by 1901; William was now a bank manager with the Nottingham & Notts Bank. Only four of their children were in the home on the night of the census: Irene a student, William, George and Katherine (7). William employed a cook and two housemaids.
William and his wife continued to live at The Square although by 1911 only one of their children, Margaret, was in the household. Irene was a teacher at Cheltenham Ladies' College and a boarder at the college's Anstell House while her younger sister, Katherine, was a student at the college and a boarder at Sydney Lodge. William, a medical student, and George, a medical and dental student, were both living at 98 Denbigh Street near Hanover Square, London. Arthur and Edward were both living at 3 Fairfield Terrace, Ashton, Old Road, Manchester; Edward was an engineering student at the university
Later records show that his parents lived at The Bank House, Retford. His parents then moved to Torquay, Devon, where William died on 29 April 1972. Probate was awarded to his surviving sons, Edward (engineer), William (surgeon) and George (surgeon). Mary Elizabeth was still living at the same address at the time of her death on 22 October 1942. Probate was awarded to her unmarried daughters Margaret and Katherine.
William Marshall served as a captain (acting major) in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Salonika during the war and his brother George Marshall served as a surgeon lieutenant Royal Navy.