gentleman amateurs

[frindle2]

Hello. What does 'gentleman amateurs' mean in the context below? Does it mean 'beginners in photography who take pictures as a hobby'?

(In the story, the father and son plan to enter the photograph in a contest. The father said the best “lunar picture” would win a cash prize of fifty dollars and be exhibited by the Royal Astronomical Society at the Great London Exhibition of 1862.)

"First of all, a person would need a big telescope, at least six or seven feet long. Maybe longer. The kind Foucault presented to the Academy of Sciences a few years back. With silvered glass for the reflector. Not speculum, mind you, which is what most of these so-called gentleman amateurs still use.

Source: Pony by R. J. Palacio

 

[Barque]

In some pursuits, there were people who were professionals--who did it for money, and there were people who were amateurs. The word "amateur" here means someone who engaged in an activity for pleasure, and it doesn't necessarily mean they were beginners.

Typically the amateurs were from the higher social classes and were considered "gentlemen". They often didn't need to make money from those activities. The professionals were usually from humbler social backgrounds.

This distinction was strong in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in Europe. It's more or less died out now.