Life of the wealthy in 19th century?

Question

In the early-mid 19th century, what were the lives of wealthy people like?

What kind of jobs would they have to bring in a lot of money?

What about the women? Were they still "possessions" of the household? Were there still arranged marriages?

What did they do for fun/entertainment?

What did they eat?

Anything would be helpful relating to the 19th century

& please don't give me long stuff and/or link about Victorian women.

Answer 1

The wealthy of the era were less interesting than ours in many ways. Leisure revolved around literature, equestrian activities, and and contracting syphilis. Most jobs that brought in money were inherited, such as land lording, tax collecting, banking, accounting, and managing merchnat fleets that one didn't have to sail on. Most women, especially the poor were still property although this was the era of the first feminists such as Virginia Wolfe and Mary Wollstonecraft. Arranged marriages existed in the form of class barriers and familial pressure but it was nothing formal. The food was usually limited to area and shipping, lots of starches, wild game, and pastries. Hope this helped.