Twins, Wadham and George (left) pictured in 1885. This photo is from the private album of Kate Forbes and was kindly donated by Bob Starky.

George Bayntun Starky was born on the 4th April 1858, at Spye Park House, Bromham, in the county of Wiltshire.

On the 20th April 1881 he married Maud Mary Le Fevre Plenderleath at St. James Church of England, Cherhill, Wiltshire. It was the last time the bells at the church were rung. The church was being restored and the architect advised the bells should not be rung again, probably because the three large bells, were at the time, fixed to a very ancient and much decayed oak frame which apparently had no attention for at least a century. Maud was 22 years old at the time and her husband, George, was aged 23.

An Indenture was drawn up on the day before – the 19th day of April – as part of a Marriage Settlement. The terms enclosed were under a previous Indenture, dated the 11th day of July 1857, made between George's father, John Bayntun Starky (by then deceased) and his mother, Frances Anne Starky (nee Hunt Grubbe), which was a settlement made in consideration of a marriage which followed between the said John and Frances.

This Indenture ensured that George Bayntun Starky was entitled to certain trust funds, amounting to about £52,400, invested on certain mortgages in the name of Frances Anne who was the trustee of the initial settlement. This was subject to the payment of an annuity of £365 to Frances Anne during her life and also an annuity of £500 to Charlotte Starky (nee Wyndham), his grandmother, who was still living at the time.

Shortly after their wedding in 1881, George emigrated to New Zealand and purchased a property known as "Brackenfield Station" at Amberley, in the North Canterbury Plains. The property is said to have covered about 1,000 acres.

In 1883, his wife Maude Le Fevre Plenderleath and her eldest son, John, followed him to the colony and in the same year George founded the Brackenfield Hunt and he was their first Master of The Hunt. He and his wife shared a love of hunting and riding horses.

The remaining children – Wadham, Francis, George, Walter and James were all born in New Zealand.

A newspaper cutting from the "Star" – Christchurch, dated Saturday 21st December 1889, under the headline Homeward Bound Starky – reads: Mr G.B. Starky owner of Brackenfield, near Amberley, left Christchurch last night for a sojourn in the old Colony. He departed from Lyttelton in the Hauroto. After staying in Australia a short time he leaves Melbourne for London on the S.S. Valetta.

He sold Brackenfield Station in 1910 but bought it back again after a year but at this stage is was a much smaller property, having been divided into four blocks and the other half sold to another party in between – so his re-purchase was only half in size. He also owned land in Omihi Valley called Spye Station which he purchased at the same time. He named it after his late father's estate in Wiltshire – Spye Park. George (pictured left) in 1910.

In November 1912 his mother, Frances-Anne came to visit him from England while on a world tour. This brought four generations of the Bayntun Starky family together (see photo right). Frances-Anne (aged 77) pictured outside her son's home in Omihi and standing beside her is her grandson - George Bayntun Starky (29), who was the second eldest child of George Bayntun Starky. Seated is her son George (54) and her great-grandson, John Michael Bayntun Starky (3).

George prospered, not so much as a farmer, but as a lender of money to other farmers who were starting up.

When George died on 21st March 1926 at the age of 67, his eldest son John Bayntun Starky took over the running of the farms and one year later sold Spye Station.

A very handsome carved oak reredos was given by Maud Starky in memory of her husband and two sons and was erected at St. James Church, in Cherhill, Wiltshire on the 17th May 1931. The principal features of the reredos are two biblical scenes. Carved on the front edge of the shelf is the following:

A.M.D.G.
and
In Memory of George Bayntun Starky, 1858-1926
Walter Bayntun Starky, 1886-1930
James Bayntun Starky, 1889-1916

Maud Mary Bayntun Starky died on the 11th July 1943, at 84 years of age.

There is a memorial stone in his memory in the Church of St. Nicholas in Bromham that also mentions his wife Maud.

George Bayntun Starky's signature

Maud Mary Le Fevre Plenderleath's signature

George Bayntun Starky was succeeded by his only son and heir John Bayntun Starky