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She did not leave records of her conversations with Francis Jeffrey or Dugald Stewart, but she did mention in ‘Reminiscences’2 that they and others referred to her as ‘philosophy in muslin’. She remained in Scotland until 1808, when she sailed to India with her father, whom she had not seen for the past ten years. At this stage in her life the travel writer was born.
In her private diary of the journey Maria recorded her readings, her studies, her descriptions of people and places and, more significantly, her onboard romance with the then Lieutenant Thomas Graham. They were married in India at the end of 1809 and returned home after two years. Once in England she published two books that comprised her experiences abroad. The first, Journal of a Residence in India, published in 1812, was an instant success. After the publication two years later of her second book, Letters on India, she settled with her husband in Scotland until 1819, the year they visited Italy. Another published travel journal, Three Months Passed in the Mountains East of Rome, published in 1820, was the result of this trip.
A year later Maria travelled to South America with her husband, now Captain Graham, who had been given the command of HMS Doris. After a stay in Brazil, they sailed towards Chile, but Captain Graham died on the way. When the ship reached Valparaíso, the young widow refused offers of passage back to Europe and stayed in the country by herself for nearly a year. Her behaviour, unusual even by today’s standards, awoke the distrust and hostility of certain members of society in Britain. Maria felt it keenly all through her life. Although, in typical Maria Graham fashion, she remarked in her journals that it was envy of her intellectual powers that caused some people to reject her.
While in Chile, she met leaders of the government, prominent members of society, and British naval officers who were in the country helping to consolidate its independence from Spain. After her stay in Chile, Maria Graham returned to Brazil, where she secured for herself the post of governess to Princess Maria da Gloria. In 1824 she returned briefly to England and had her two Latin American journals published, Journal of a Residence in Chile and Journal of a Voyage to Brazil,3 also with great success. She did not hold her post as governess for very long after her return from England and was dismissed by the Emperor under mysterious circumstances.