He was born on the 18th of August 1720. There is no any exact information about his birth place. He was the eldest son of the Honorable Laurence Ferrers, the youngest son of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers. His title he inherited in 1745 from his mad uncle, and, in addition, he inherited estates in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire. Laurence, however, preferred to Staunton Harold Hall (Staunton Harold Hall), in the north-west of Leicestershire.
At the age of 20, Lawrence left his parents' and went to Oxford, and later visited Paris, where he enjoyed literally every day of his life.
The Ferrers estates were vested in trustees, the Earl Ferrers secured the appointment of an old family steward, Johnson, as receiver of rents. This man faithfully performed his duty as a servant to the trustees, and did not prove amenable to Ferrer's personal wishes. On the 18th of January 1760, Johnson called at the earl's mansion at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire, by appointment, and was directed to his lordship's study. Here, after some business conversation, Lord Ferrers shot him. In the following April Ferrers was tried for murder by his peers in Westminster Hall. His defence, which he conducted in person with great ability, 'was a plea of insanity, and it was supported by considerable evidence, but he was found guilty. He subsequently said that he had only pleaded insanity to oblige his family, and that he had himself always been ashamed of such a defence. On the 5th of May 1760, dressed in a light- coloured suit, embroidered with silver, he was taken in his own carriage from the Tower of London to Tyburn and there hanged. It has been said that as a concession to his order the rope used was of silk.
He was a member of the House of Lords.
From an early age his behaviour seems to have been eccentric, and his temper violent, though he was quite capable of managing his business affairs.
In 1752 he married the youngest daughter of Sir William Meredith.
