The following thesis has been divided into eight chapters covering the history of the Ferrers family in England and the development of the Honour of Tutbury from c.1066 to 1279. The first chapter is concerned with the agglomeration of the Honour of Tutbury within the context of the pacification of the north and west midlands in the period immediately following the Conquest. In addition to examining the Honour territorially, this chapter also examines the feudal composition of the Honour and discusses the origins . and positions of several important families of undertenants. This theme is continued in the second and third chapters which also examine the evidence for and the activities of the Ferrers' ho no rial court under the first three Earls, as well as the politic al stance of the Ferrers during the 12th century. The fourth 9hapter covers the Earldom of William II and the growth in the prominence of both the earldom and the Honour during the period 1190-1247. The Earl's support for King John is discussed in some detail. The following chapter returns to consider the evolution of the position of the Earl's officials and his court against a background of an expanding system of royal justice under the last three Earls. The sixth chapter examines the brief earldom of Wiliam III and the economic development of the Honour during the course of the thirteenth century. The final two chapters contain a detailed analysis of the earldom of Robert III, his involvement in the Barons' War and his subsequent dispossession. The resulting legal case and its implications are considered in the final chapter. There are three appendices to this thesis. The first and second contain a collection of the Earl's acta and the documents which concern Earl Robert's dispossession. The third appendix investigates the importance of the Earl's third penny in England during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with special attention to the Earldom of Derby.