Eliot was born in Paris, France (as a British Subject), on 3 Apr 1842 and baptized there six weeks later on 15 May 1842. Eliot's father was a senior officer in the Coldstream Guards (during a relatively peaceful time in British history), which allowed for plenty of time for family travel. As he had a fondness for the Continent, the family spent as many as six months of each year in France, so it was here that Eliot spent much of his childhood. The Pringles lived in many different places, and Eliot and his siblings were as fluent in French as they were English. Claire Clairmont (a friend of Eliot's parents) was always full of praises for the older Pringle children, calling them "lovely and pretty . . . and so full of character — so clever and independent, but so soft and affectionate — not a jot will they yield if they are harshly treated, but will for kindness, or a kind look, do the most impossible tasks".
Eliot's naval career began at an early age, and he attended Mr. Eastman's Preparatory Naval Establishment in Southsea to ready himself. In 1854, he was listed as a Flag Officer in the Royal Navy and – in January of the following year – received a certificate as a Naval Cadet at the Royal Naval College. Unlike his father, Eliot had a career full of military action, seeing his first active service that same year in the Baltic at the bombardment of Sveaborg (in the Gulf of Finland) aboard H.M.S. Hastings.