Victorian era -gentlemen's occupation?

Question

I'm doing a research on the upper-middle class occupations of gentlemen (not a school research, just one to help me with my novel). What occupations would be suitable for a man that would give him time to spend time with a lady he liked? I was thinking about a secretary, but then he'd probably be working 24/7? I don't know, any suggestions? Perhaps a gentleman farmer?

Also, with your suggestion could you perhaps give me some description of their occupations: what they do, they wage, for how long they work, etc.,

Answer 1

Gentleman farmer would be one, as long as someone else did the work. Many of the aristocracy had large landholdings, both urban and rural, and lived off the income of the land. Trade was looked down upon.

Answer 2

If you are looking for a Victorian era position for a young man that would give him a lot of time for courting, you only have a few choices. A store owner or clerk would have time off in the middle of the day and would be off around 7 p.m. Stores typically closed for two hours for lunch during this era. A store owner would have more leeway and income than a clerk, obviously.
The other thing that he could be is a hackney (cab) driver. He would be in business for himself and be able to take time whenever he wanted, although the pay wasn't enough to allow him the financial freedom to take that kind of time.
A man who ran a fine store such as a jewelers or a tailor shop would have a decent income by the standards of the day and would be able to come into contact with people from almost any walk of life, although his customers would be people of wealth, they often sent their servants to pick up items that they had sent in for repair and that sort of thing. That would probably be your best bet, I think.
You will need to do a lot of research on the web to find out what wages for these jobs were like. I had a devil of a time finding out what wages were like for some occupations.