Edmund Jenings was born in England to Edmund Jenings [1700-1756] and his wife, who was also the mother of John Beale Bordley. Jennings lived in London, but his political views were with the American Republicans or Whigs. It is generally believed that Jennings commissioned portraits of John Beale Bordley, of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland, and of John Dickinson, all from the artist, Charles Willson Peale.