MB BCh 1943; DLO Eng 1953.
Marsland was born in Stockport on 14 May 1917. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and the University of Manchester. Marsland's first appointments were at Rochdale Infirmary, he was casualty officer and resident surgical officer before being appointed aural registrar in 1947. In 1949 he was appointed aural registrar to Ancoats Hospital and the Northern Hospital, Manchester. He was later assistant to the ENT departments at MRI and at South Manchester Hospitals. Marsland was a member of MMS and of the North of England Otological Society. He married Margaret Longdon Dennis in 1952 (see below).