Joseph Charles Pring was Vicar of St Andrew's Church in Headington for over forty years from 1836 to 1876, making him the longest-serving Vicar there. The plaque below is on the wall of the church:

Joseph Charles Pring was born at Bangor in Caernarfonshire on 7 September 1799 and baptised there on 11 November. He was the son of Joseph Pring (1776–1842), who in 1793 had been appointed organist of Bangor Cathedral, and Mary Burnett, who were married at St Mary Magdalen Church, Old Fish Street, London on 1 June 1797.

His grandmother Mrs Martha Prior, described as “mother of Dr. Pring, organist of Bangor” died at Oxford and was buried in St Cross churchyard on 9 August.

Joseph was matriculated at the University of Oxford by Jesus College on 23 March 1820 at the age of 20. He was ordained Deacon at Norwich on 5 October 1823. obtained his BA in June 1824, and was ordained Priest at Norwich on 24 October 1824. He served as Chaplain of New College from 1825.

On 19 July 1832 at St Clement's Church Joseph Charles Pring of Holywell parish married Anne Rachel Stone, the eldest daughter of the surgeon Deodatus Stone of St Clement's parish. They had seven children, but only the five girls survived infancy:

• Charles Deodatus Pring I (born in Holywell parish and baptised by his father at St Cross Church on 9 September 1833; died aged nine weeks and buried in St Clement's churchyard on 24 November)
• Emma Burnett Pring (born in St Clement's on 20 October 1837 and baptised by her father at St Andrew's Church on 25 December)
• Ellen Waldo Pring (born on 8 April 1839 and baptised by her father at St Andrew's Church on 30 May)
• Charles Deodatus Pring II (born in London Place, St Clement's on 10 July 1840 and baptised by his father at St Andrew's Church on 7 September; died in St Clement's aged two months and buried in St Clement's churchyard on 11 September)
• Elizabeth Anne Pring (born in St Clement's on 15 April 1842 and baptised by her father at St Andrew's Church on 14 May)
• Henrietta Mary Pring (born in St Clement's on 5 July 1843 and baptised by her father at St Andrew's Church on 6 November)
• Emily Jane Pring (born in St Clement's on 6 October 1844 and baptised by her father at St Andrew's Church on 6 October)

In November 1835 Pring was appointed Vicar of St Andrew's Church by its patron, Thomas Henry Whorwood junior, the Lord of the Manor of Headington and son of the Vicar who had just died. Pring continued to serve as Chaplain as New College until 1873 and lived in St Clement's (between the college and Headington) for the rest of his life, relying heavily on curates to do much of the work at St Andrew's.

At the time of the 1841 census Joseph and his wife Ann were living in St Clement's Street with their first two young daughters Emma and Ellen and two servants. Meanwhile in 1841 Joseph's parents were living at Bulkeley Place in Bangor with what appear to be four of his grown-up siblings. His father Joseph Pring died on 13 February 1842 and was buried in the churchyard of Bangor Cathedral.

On 16 June 1842 Joseph Charles Pring was also unanimously elected Chaplain of the Headington Union.

Bishop Wilberforce wrote as follows about Pring at St Andrew's Church in the 1840s:

Most important in Deanery — poor preferment held by Chaplain of New Coll. Mr Pring resides at Bottom of Headington Hill — Quere if in the Parish — not very energetic. Respectable.

In 1848 Headington National School opened on the site of the present St Andrew's Primary School.

On Whit Monday 1849 the Revd Pring preached an “excellent discourse” at the Headington Club Feast, and “dealt with much force and eloquence on the value of Benefit and Provident Societies”.

On 22 November 1849 Pring attended the consecration of Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, which considerably reduced the size of his parish.

In early 1850s the Revd Charles Pourtales Golightly served as the Curate of St Andrew's Church, and he wrote disparagingly of Pring to the Bishop of Oxford:

I was … for five years Afternoon Lecturer in the parish of Headington on 30l. per annum, undertaking nearly all the duties of a Curate, the Incumbent professing to do nothing, and being as good as his word.

The 1851 census shows Pring living at 14 London Place with his wife and their five daughters, plus two servants.

On 4 September 1852 Pring was present at the rural fete in Headington that was held in the close opposite the church.

in 1854 Golightly was still named by Pring as his unlicensed curate in the Bishop's Visitation Return, but he had left St Andrew's Church by December 1855, when the Bishop of Oxford wrote: “A miserable account of the neglect of nearly all things since Golightly left.”

In the 1861 census Pring was listed at London Place with his wife and four of his daughters. His eldest daughter Emma Burnett Pring (23) was now the governess of the children of the surgeon Thomas Underhill in Tipton, Staffordshire.

In 1863 John Robinson became Pring's Curate, and his sister Sarah tellingly wrote that he was “appointed to the sole charge of Headington”, but he died of smallpox on 22 November 1864 after visiting a sick man.

The Revd Pring's second daughter Ellen Waldo Pring died in London Place, St Clement's at the age of 23 on 6 February 1863 and was buried in St Clement's churchyard six days later. .

From 1866 to 1876 Lewis Stacey Tuckwell was the industrious and much-loved Curate of Headington, and he was was instrumental in getting a chapel of ease erected in New Headington village in 1870 and an infant school there in 1873.

On 3 June 1869 at St Andrew's Church, Pring's daughter Henrietta Mary Pring (23) married her first cousin Robert Henry Stone (21), a gentleman of Brixton, the son of the surgeon Robert Stone and the grandson of Deodatus Stone. The ceremony performed by the Revd John T. Darby assisted by the Revd L. S. Tuckwell.

By the time of the 1871 census the Revd Pring had moved from London Place to 2 St Clement's Street and was living there with his wife and his three unmarried daughters Emma, Elizabeth, and Emily.

Joseph Charles Pring remained at that address until his death there on 7 April 1876 at the age of 76. He was buried in St Clement's churchyard six days later. His effects came to under £600, and his widow Anne was his executrix.

At the time of the 1881 census his widow Anne Rachel Pring (74) was living at 14 Bromley College in Kent (an almshouse for impoverished clergymen's widows and children) with her daughters Elizabeth (28) and Emily (26). She died there at the age of 78 on 20 November 1884 and was buried in St Clement's churchyard five days later. Her personal estate came to £404 15s. 2d., and her eldest daughter Emma was her executrix.

In 1897 a further £100 was added to the Revd Pring's estate, with his executrix now being his youngest daughter Emily Jane Pring.

The Revd Pring's four surviving children

• Emma Burnett Pring (born 1837) never married and lived away from home from c.1860 to her retirement. In 1881 she was living as the companion of the widow Sarah Crundwell in Eltham. (Mrs Crundwell had lived in Headington Lodge, and was the mother of Mrs Martha Rawlinson, patron of St Andrew's Church from 1879 to 1927.) At the time of the 1891 census Emma was aged 53 and described as a lady superintendent, living at the Home of Rest in Hanbury, Staffordshire, and her younger sister Elizabeth (48) was living with her. In 1901 she was a Lady Housekeeper at Manor House Farm, and was the head of the household with a boarder and their servant. In 1911 she was aged 73 with no occupation and living completely alone at 27 Adair House, Oakley Street, London SW3. In 1921 her address was given as 28 Adair Road and she described herself as a retired governess. She died at that address at the age of 87 on 15 June 1925. Her effects came to £1805 11s. 11d., and her executor was Ralph George Joynson Rawlinson (the son of the patron of St Andrew's Church).
• Elizabeth Anne Pring (born 1842) never married. In 1891 she was living off her own means with her older sister Emma in Hanbury, Staffordshire. She died at the age of 63 on 4 July 1905 at Portway, Wantage, Berkshire. Her effects came to £807 5s., and her sister Emma was her executrix.
• Henrietta Mary Pring, Mrs Stone (born 1843) was aged 25 and living at 5 Manor View, Brixton at the time of the 1881 census with her husband Robert Henry Stone (23), who was now described as a commercial clerk rather than a gentleman (and was wrongly recorded as John Henry Stone). They do not appear to have had any children. In her probate record Henrietta was described as being of New York, but her place of death was unknown and the date of her death was described as “in or since 1887”. In 1891 requests for her relatives were posted in newspapers in Australia, the USA, and England, and her sister Emma presumably got in touch, as she acted as her executrix. Henrietta's effects came to £492 7s. 1d.
• Emily Jane Pring (born 1844) never married. She died on 16 May 1899 at the age of 35 at Newbury Street, Wantage, Berkshire. Her effects came to £641 4s. 11d., and her sister Emma was her executrix.