The artist's birth name was Herbert Close, a name which he changed to Roland Meredith Starr at about the age of 20 when he began to write for the Occult Review (edited by Aleister Crowley). He had been born at Prestbury House, in Hampton, Richmond, Surrey, the son of a wealthy industrialist and his wife. Primarily he was a poet and occultist, and due perhaps to his association with Crowley who spent a great deal of time in West Cornwall, he arrived - newly married - in St Ives with his wife, Lady Mary Starr, and colleague Wooley, with the idea of establishing an artists' and spiritualists' centre. In Cornwall and in the same area at the time was the writer D H Lawrence, who mentions Starr briefly (and dismissively) in his correspondence.

An advertisement in the St Ives Times for an Artist's Exhibition: at The Cottage, Treveal, 11th-14th September, includes Meredith STARR, Horace J WOOLEY and Lady Mary STARR. The works were said to "demonstrate new methods of execution and conception."

Subsequently, it appeared that the reception for their plans was not especially welcome, and their centre was established in Devon instead. They were part of an esoteric and literary circle linked to the Indian Guru, Meher Baba, who Starr is credited with introducing to the West.  He did not follow Meher Baba for very long, and the centre existed only briefly.