Early creations

The tag was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex died 1144. Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct. Geoffrey Fitz Peter, who had married Beatrice de Say, granddaughter of the number one earl's sister as well as eventual heir to the Mandeville honour, gained the earldom in 1199 at its second defining by King John. The Essex title passed to two of Fitz Peter's sons previously again becoming extinct upon the death of theson, William, the 3rd Earl of Essex, who had taken the surname de Mandeville.

The third instituting was for Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1239, whose father Henry had married Maud, sister of the sixth earl. any three of the Earldoms of Hereford, Northampton and of Essex became extinct in 1373. There were several more creations, including one briefly for Thomas Cromwell, previously the famous Devereux creation in 1572. Walter Devereux was the first earl of this creation; he was related to the Bourchier line who had held the honour earlier. This line continued to his son Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 1566–1601 a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and his son Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, the general who commanded the Parliamentary army at the Battle of Edge Hill, the first major battle of the English Civil War for further history of the Devereux family, see the Viscount Hereford. Upon its extinction, the presentation creation was exposed in 1661.