The thesis is a study of the Mores of Loseley Park near Guildford, from the time of Christopher More's purchase of a moiety of Loseley in 1508 until the death of his grandson Sir George More in 1632. By the late sixteenth century the Mores were the leading gentry family in Surrey, and this is reflected in the extraordinary archive. The first chapter covers the building of the Elizabethan house at Loseley in the 1560s by William More, and its extension by his son Sir George; both projects demonstrated the family's success. The survival of both William More's building accounts and the house itself provide a rare opportunity to compare the process and the finished building. This is followed by a chapter on the national and local offices held by the Mores, which both helped finance their works at Loseley, and also confirmed their position as members of the gentry elite. These two chapters cover arguably the most important areas of gentry life in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, namely the possession of land, which was seen as a mark of gentility, and the accumulation of offices, which brought power and influence to support that status. The third chapter covers the religious life of the Mores, both their personal piety and their role in the Reformation, in which the gentry were crucial. The Mores' friendship with the Catholic Anthony Browne, first Viscount Montague, despite their own loyalty to the established Church, suggests caution over accepting religious rhetoric at face value. The final section discusses the women of the family, whose experiences argue against the stereotype of the ideal gentlewoman of the time. This is the case not just for Elizabeth, the elder daughter of Sir William More, who became a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I and represented her family's interests at Court, but also others such as her niece Frances Oglander. The conclusion stresses the Mores' achievements, which enabled them to become the leading gentry family in Surrey.