Marjorie Ridley was born in Western Australia in 1898. She learned basketry from Joan Heath in the 1930s. Heath had been making baskets with local materials on Flinders Island, and when her family moved to Western Australia she and Ridley became friends. The Blind School in Mount Lawley did dye tests on the Guildford grass that Ridley cut and dried herself. She then began to work with colour. She advised the State Government on the use of local grass when supplies of imported fibres were scarce during World War II. She also taught basketry through the Red Cross to their workers at the Edward Miller Rehabilitation Home for Servicemen. After the war Ridley moved from Perth to the coast at Australind. She produced baskets, woven mats and jardinières; many are decorated with Australiana touches. In 1984 the Crafts Council of Perth held an exhibition of her work.