Williams was born in New Westminster in Canada in 1882, emigrating to the South African Republic with her parents at the age of 11.
She matriculated at St Mary's School, Waverley in Johannesburg – gaining first place in the entire country.
From St Mary's she proceeded, to Huguenot College in Wellington, where she completed her BA Honours degree in Classics in 1901.
[1] She returned to South Africa, and Huguenot College, eventually taking up the position of Chair of Greek.
Resigning from Huguenot College, she relocated to Johannesburg, and in 1923 took up the position of Senior Lecturer in Greek at the University of Witwatersrand, where she remained until retirement.