Sheila Oates was originally from Cornwall, where her father was a primary school headmaster in Tintagel.
She was educated at Sir James Smith's Grammar School, and inspired to become a mathematician by a teacher there, Alfred Hooper.
[5] She became a lecturer and fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford, before moving to Australia in 1965.
She also participated several times in the Australian edition of the Mastermind television quiz show.
[4] Williams was a 2002 recipient of the B. H. Neumann Award for Excellence in Mathematics Enrichment of the Australian Maths Trust.