Lewis Randle Starkey

Lewis Randle Starkey (13 March 1836 – 16 September 1910) was a British Conservative politician.

Biography

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.^[2] In October 1857, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment of Yeomanry.^[3] In 1858 he married his namesake, Constance Margaret, daughter of Thomas Starkey.^[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.^[6] He was the party's candidate again at the next general election in 1874, and was elected in the place of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament, Henry F Beaumont.^[1] By this time, he was living at Heath Hall, near Wakefield.^[1] Starkey only served one term in the Commons, losing his seat at the 1880 general election.^[7]

Having left parliament, Starkey and his family moved to Norwood Park, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire in 1881.^[8] He held the office of High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1891, was an alderman on Nottinghamshire County Council,^[2] and was appointed a deputy lieutenant of the county in January 1891.^[9] He was a director of the Midland Railway.^[2] Starkey's eldest son was John R Starkey, who became MP for Newark, and a baronet.^[2]

Lewis Randle Starkey died in September 1910, aged 74.^[2]