When reading a book like the Count of Monte Chriato or Scherlock Holmes, they mention that this and this person has an income of 4000 pounds and that person will have this and this income when she marries.
How does that work? Most of these people do not do any actual job.
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There are many good answers here, but one thing is often missing: these aristocrats *inherited* all this land/wealth. They were raised in luxury by their parents, never needing to have a job, and when daddy died, then they inherited everything. So it wasn’t like these people you see were successful businessmen who retired early (though if you *were* a successful businessman, you may be able to buy your way in to the aristocracy – Michael Gambon’s character in Gosford Park is an example of this).
Back in the day, there was far less inheritance tax than now, so eldest sons could inherit a vast fortune when dad died and *never* have to work for a living. This kinda makes sense – if the legislature is dominated by aristocrats, it’s in their interests to preserve their way of life and keep inheritance tax low.
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