Daniel Pring

Who was Daniel Pring?

Daniel Pring was an officer in the British Royal Navy. He is best known for the part he played in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.

He was born near Honiton in Devon. He entered the Navy in 1800, and evidently took part in the abortive British invasions of the Río de la Plata, as in 1807 he was appointed Lieutenant and commander of the schooner HMS Paz, taken as a prize at Montevideo. His promotion to Lieutenant was confirmed in 1808. In 1810, he married Anne, maiden name unknown.

In 1811, he was serving aboard HMS Africa, the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir Herbert Sawyer, the commander in chief of the North American station based at Halifax, Nova Scotia. The following year, he transferred to HMS San Domingo, the flagship of Sawyer's successor, Vice Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren. He was one of three Lieutenants detached by Warren to the naval establishment on the Great Lakes, with the acting rank of Commander. The Admiralty however had independently appointed Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo as Commodore to command on the lakes. During the early part of 1813, Pring served as commander of HMS Wolfe, which carried Yeo's broad pendant.