He was the eldest son of John Starkey of Spring Lodge, Huddersfield and his wife, Sarah Anne, daughter of Joseph Armitage, a millowner of Milnsbridge, Yorkshire.
[1] Following education at Rugby School and the University of Berlin he entered "commercial pursuits" in Yorkshire.
[1] He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire on 6 December 1867,[4] and was promoted to captain in the Yeomanry on 22 February 1868.
[5] In 1868 he was chosen by the Conservative Party to be a parliamentary candidate for the Southern Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but failed to be elected.
[7] Having left parliament, Starkey and his family moved to Norwood Park, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire in 1881.