Robert Fitz-Richard was the first baron by tenure. He is said to have been the younger son of Richard Fitz-Gilbert, ancestor of the Earls of Clare. He was steward to Henry I., from whom he obtained the barony of Dunmow, and the honour of the soke of Baynard's Castle, both which had been forfeited to the Crown in 1111 by reason of the felony of William, Baron of Dunmow, son of Ralph Baynard, the Norman associate of William the Conqueror, after whom the castle was named.
In connection with this soke Robert held the hereditary office of Standard-Bearer of the city, the duties of which will be stated further on. He died in 1134, and was succeeded by his son, Walter Fitz-Robert. The latter's son was Robert Fitz-Walter, the most famous member of the family, and the one who transmitted to his descendants the permanent surname of Fitz-Walter.
This Fitz-Walter was styled 'Marshal of the Army of God and Holy Church.' He was one of the twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Charta obtained from King John.
An 'agreement [dated 15-25 June 1215] between King John, of the one part, and Robert Fitz-Walter, Marshal of the Army of God and of Holy Church in England, six earls and six barons named, and other earls, barons and freemen, of the other part,' is preserved in the Public Record Office, and the following description of the document is given in the _Catalogue of MSS., &c., in the Museum of the P.R.O._ (1902): 'The earls, barons and others shall hold the City of London, saving the royal revenues, and the Archbishop of Canterbury shall hold the Tower of London, saving the liberties of the city, until the Feast of the Assumption in the seventeenth year of the reign. In the meanwhile, oaths shall be taken throughout England to twenty-five barons, as is contained in the charter for the liberties and security of the realm, and all things shall be done according to the said charter; otherwise the city and the Tower shall be held as above, until all the said things shall be done.' It is said in a note to this document that 'none of the thirteen persons who are thus entered into an agreement with the King are mentioned among those upon whose advice he granted the great charter.'