Starkie came from the Lancashire branch of an ancient family, originating in Cheshire, who had acquired the Huntroyde estate through marriage in the fifteenth century. He had contemplated a career in the church, but the early deaths of his two elder brothers meant that in 1822 he inherited Huntroyde, other settled estates in Lancashire and the residue of personalty which was sworn under £40,000.
He made no mark in the House: his only recorded vote was against Catholic relief, 6 Mar. 1827, and he is not known to have spoken in debate. In February 1829 Planta, the Wellington ministry’s patronage secretary, noted that he would be ‘absent’ from the divisions on Catholic emancipation. He was granted three weeks’ leave to attend to private business, 10 Mar. 1830, and quietly retired at the dissolution that summer.