Shell Sykes

1932

Born in Shanghai

Shell with her amah (nanny) and Florence, Shanghai 1932

Shell in China, 1933

Shell and father Ted at the Shanghai Docks, 1933

Shell & father Ted at the Shanghai Docks, 1933

Shell came into the world in Shanghai, China — a city of cosmopolitan energy and colonial complexity, where her parents had made their home. Her earliest years were spent in this extraordinary place, before the world she was born into would begin to shift.

1934 – 1937

England with Grandparents

At two years old, Shell was sent to live with her grandparents in England. For three formative years she grew up in the English countryside — a small girl in a big, quiet world — before her parents called her back across the globe to join them once more.

Shanghai to England on the Raj Latana, July 1934

Voyage to England on the Raj Latana, 1934

Shell, England 1935

Grandad Hankin and Shell on a walk, 1936

Grandad Hankin & Shell on a walk, 1936

With her grandmother, England 1936

1937 – 1949

Growing Up in New Zealand

Shell joined her parents in New Zealand, where an itinerant childhood unfolded across nine different schools before she found her footing. Each new school was a new beginning — friendships made and remade, landscapes shifting from city to province.

Ten schools in total, ten fresh starts — the kind of childhood that teaches a person how to arrive anywhere and make it home.

Shell & Cherry, 1943

Shell, Cherry and parents Ted and Margeret Hankin, 1943

Shell, Cherry & parents Ted & Margeret, 1943

1944 – 1945

Chilton St James

In Lower Hutt, Shell attended Chilton St James — a year among new companions and new routines, adding another chapter to a childhood already shaped by movement. The friendships and the school grounds left their quiet mark.

Shell in centre with friends, 1944

Tennis team — Shell front, 2nd from left

Start of the new year, Chilton St James 1944

Start of the new year, 1944

1950 – 1954

Otago University

Shell studied Home Science at the University of Otago in Dunedin, graduating as a qualified dietician. It was a discipline that would shape the rest of her professional life — the science of nutrition and health care, applied through food and knowledge.

Shell and her step-mother Margaret at the Debutante Ball, 1954

Shell & step-mother Margaret at the Debutante Ball, 1954

Graduating, 1954

Graduates, Otago University, Dunedin 1954

Graduates, Otago University 1954

1957 – 1959

London & Victor

Newly qualified, Shell did what many New Zealanders of her generation did — she travelled to London to work in the "Mother Country." She took a position at a St Georges hospital, London, and it was during that time that she met Victor Sykes. What began as a professional life in a new city became something rather more unexpected.

She crossed the world to work. She stayed, for a while, because of love.

Shell in England, 1958

16th January, 1960

Marriage & the Move to Australia

Shell and Victor married in New Zealand on the 16th of January, 1960. They honeymooned at her father's holiday house before making the crossing to Australia where a new life — and a great garden — awaited them in the seaside suburb of Frankston, Victoria.

Wedding party, January 1960

Vic & Shell, January 1960

1960 – 1979

Frankston — Family & Work

In Frankston, Shell and Victor built their first home together, and with their own hands shaped a large, beautiful garden around it. Two daughters arrived: Carolyn in October, and Julia in March two years later. Shell returned to dietetics at Frankston Hospital, then moved to teaching — passing on her knowledge of nutrition and health at the Emily McPherson College during the 1970s.

Carolyn, 8 weeks old in Shell's arms, 1960

Shell & her firstborn, Carolyn, 8 weeks old, 1960

Shell & Julia, 1962

The family at their Frankston house, 1963

The family at Frankston, 1963

Shell with the family, 1964

Mother's Day, 1966

Shell & the girls at Frankston, 1966

Shell with daughters & Puss, 1969

Shell & Vic, 1970s

Camping in the 1970s

1980 – 1997

Burwood

In 1980, Shell and Victor moved to Burwood. Shell returned to study, updating her dietetics and nutrition knowledge before going back to teaching until 1986. These were quiet, productive years — a life full of books, students, and a home that was always being tended.

Shell in the garden, ready for guests, 1980

Shell cuddling niece Theresa, with James, Linda and Chrissy, 1982

Shell with nephew James and nieces Theresa, Linda & Chrissy, 1982

Shell with Julia & Vic's mother, 1983

1997 – 2018

Hampton — Grandchildren & Community

In 1997, Shell and Victor moved to Hampton, Victoria — close to their daughter Julia, her husband Trevor, and a new generation. Again, they turned their hands to designing a home and garden from the ground up. Daniel arrived first, then Michaela. Shell and Victor became a deeply woven part of the fabric of their community: two book groups, a Probus group, a life richly threaded with reading, friendship, and family.

Granny and Daniel playing peekaboo, 1997

Granny & Daniel, 1997

Victor & Shell, 2007

Vic's 87th birthday, 2016

Trevor, Shell, Vic and Julia at church, 2017

Trevor, Shell, Vic & Julia at church, 2017

2018 – 2025

After Victor

Victor died in 2018. Shell missed him greatly — theirs had been a partnership of nearly sixty years, built across continents and gardens, music and literature. Yet she continued, sustained by her family, her book group, and her Probus friends, until a serious fall made it clear that more support was needed. In January 2025, Shell moved into Cheltenham Manor, where she found good company and comfort until the end.

Michaela & Shell at Christmas, 2021

Shell's 90th birthday, 2022

Family from all around the world, 2022

Family at Cheltenham Manor, 2025