Through her adoptive father, she inherited not only a considerable fortune but a wide network of influential friends and contacts, particularly among Whig circles.
[4] When her adoptive father died, she moved into a house in Hyde Park Gardens while maintaining the family retreat, Fredley, in Mickleham, Surrey.
Among her many friends were Sydney Smith, the artist J. M. W. Turner, John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Professor Wheatstone, George Meredith, Charles Babbage, Michael Faraday, Austen Henry Layard, and Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne, who were entertained by Maria at Hyde Park Gardens and at Fredley between the years 1843 and 1891.
The son of Samuel Romilly was also thought to have been infatuated with her; but, in the end, she married army surveyor Thomas Drummond at Weston House, the impressive home of Sir George Philips, 1st Baronet.
She left a self-portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds to her daughter, Emily Drummond, who eventually gave it to the National Gallery in London.