Age
We’re never told explicitly, though it’s likely he’s the same age as or even a little older than Lady Anne Darcy, who was the sister of the Earl of --- and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. He is also the father of Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy.
Mr. Darcy has the owner of Pemberley House in Derbyshire. Assuming it was as profitable during his lifetime as it was during his son’s, this would have meant that he received about ￡10,000 per anum. Since she was titled, it’s likely that Lady Anne brought a significant dowry into the marriage, so it’s entirely possible he was able to expand Pemberley’s holdings with this money. Lady Catherine later describes the Darcy line as “respectable, honourable, and ancient—though untitled," suggesting that the Darcys have money in their own right, even if they’re not from the peerage.
Character
Everyone agrees that Mr. Darcy was kind. Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Gardiner agree that he was “an excellent man” who was “affable to the poor.” This generosity clearly spread to his household. We know from George Wickham that Mr. Darcy hired Mr. Wickham senior as his steward and looked after his steward’s son, serving as his godfather and later going so far as to support him at Cambridge.
It is this relationship which is the topic of much debate in the novel. George Wickham describes Mr. Darcy as “one of the best men that ever breathed, and the truest friend I ever had.” He goes on the praise the man for his generous patronage before stating that Fitzwilliam Darcy has since acted maliciously out of jealousy; Wickham says “Had the late Mr. Darcy liked me less, his son might have borne with me better; but his father's uncommon attachment to me irritated him, I believe, very early in life. He had not a temper to bear the sort of competition in which we stood—the sort of preference which was often given me.” Wickham goes on to assert that Mr. Darcy left him a living, giving Wickham senior “a voluntary promise of providing for me, I am convinced that he felt it to be as much a debt of gratitude to him, as of his affection to myself”, as well as a legacy of ￡1,000.
This story also throws light on the relationship between Mr. Darcy and his heir. Fitzwilliam Darcy tells us “My father was not only fond of [George Wickham’s] society, whose manners were always engaging; he had also the highest opinion of him, and hoping the church would be his profession, intended to provide for him in it” before going on to explain that he saw flaws in Wickham’s character which his father could not have as a much older person. Fitzwilliam Darcy never speaks of great familiarity with his father and even refers to him as “Mr. Darcy” in his correspondence with Elizabeth, though this would not have been uncommon for the period. Whether he was jealous of Wickham’s attentions is never really confirmed, though it would certainly explain some of Darcy’s frustration with the situation.
