Better way to look at it is how did it compare to what other people had in those days. The safest way to invest money then was in government bonds, which paid between 3% and 5% depending on how the wars were going. £1,000 would pay interest of between £30 and £50 a year. A farm labourer was expected to support (on the edge of poverty) a wife and several children on about £40 a year, so the interest on £1,000 would be a sparse but not negligible income for a single young woman.

Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters have a capital of £10,000 among them even without John doing anything for them. Their approximately £400 income allows them to live in modest genteel comfort at Barton Cottage and to keep a couple of servants, although not to afford a horse.