Location: Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England
Photo taken by: Thomas Blomberg
Buy books by Maria Callcott
British writer of travel books and children’s books. She travelled to India with her father in 1808 and whilst in India she met Thomas Graham, a Scottish Naval Officer, who she married in 1809. The couple returned to England in 1811 and she published her first book, Journal of a Residence in India. As the wife of a naval officer she spent many years alone, but she used this time to work as a translator and book editor.
In 1821 Maria was invited to accompany her husband aboard HMS Doris to Chile with the purpose of protecting British mercantile interests in the area. But In April 1822 her husband died of a fever on board HMS Doris so Maria arrived in Chile as a widow. Determined to manage on her own she lived in Chile for a year before starting her journey back to Britain in 1823. She published several journals about this period, including Journal of a Residence in Chile during the Year 1822.
On returning to London Maria met the painter Augustus Callcott whom she married in 1827. During a trip to Italy in 1831 Maria ruptured a blood vessel and became an invalid, resulting in her no longer being able to travel. During her long convalescence she produced her most famous book for children; Little Arthur’s History of England. In 1837 Augustus Callcott was knighted and Maria became Lady Callcott.
In recognition of her services to Chile, as being one of the first persons to write about the nation in the English language, the Chilean government paid for the restoration of Maria and Augustus Callcott’s joint grave in Kensal Green Cemetery in 2008. A commemorative plaque was placed on the grave which names Maria Callcott "a friend of the nation of Chile".
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