Fascinating thread. My family weren't (and aren't!) wealthy, but my grandfather worked all his life as a gardener and although his pay was very low he did get a tied cottage with each of his jobs. His final job, which lasted for well over 20 years until he retired in the mid 1970s at 65, was for a man who had inherited (I think) a controlling share in a shipping company. He was the Managing Director so probably on a decent salary but would also have had dividends and inherited wealth, I expect. His wife didn't work at all. Their son did the classic thing that often comes up in literature and drama featuring wealthy families, and does I think reflect many real families. He had the best of everything growing up but went off the rails as a young man. I'm just remembering conversations I overheard as a child, and therefore probably didn't really understand, but I think the young man showed no interest in going into the family business, and opted instead for a playboy lifestyle bankrolled by his Dad, who was no doubt extremely disappointed in him.
The daughters of the family, meanwhile, were not expected to have careers at all, and as far as I can recall they did indeed simply get married while quite young by modern standards. Their mother did not work. No idea how they put in their time all day.
The abiding memory I have of visiting my grandparents as a young child was that if the Family were in residence we were not allowed to go anywhere in the huge garden where we could be seen from the Big House. It was OK to go with Grandpa to the greenhouses or potting shed or compost heap, or with Granny to the drying green and laundry room where there was a fascinating but dangerous mangle, but the lawn in front of the house was very definitely out of bounds.
My Mum says Grandpa's employer's wife was pleased that he had two daughters and thought they might be useful in the house as maids. My Granny had other ideas. She had been unable to stay at school beyond the leaving age herself, in spite of being the cleverest child there, because her Dad had died and her mother (my Great-Granny) needed the pitiful wage her 12yo daughter could bring in from domestic service to make ends meet. Granny was absolutely determined that her own two daughters would get the opportunities she had been denied, and they did. My Mum became a primary school teacher and my aunt became a secretary (nice clean white collar office job with fixed hours).
In fairness, I should add that my Grandpa's employer treated him well when he retired. I've no idea if he paid him a pension, but he bought my grandparents a house opposite my aunt's, so their pensions didn't have to cover rent, which must have been a big help.