Dr. S. R. (Stephen Rice) Jenkins was born 12 November 1858 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He was the son of Dr. J. T. (John Thelophilus) Jenkins and Jessie Esther Rice, the grandson of the Rev. L. C. Jenkins (rector of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Charlottetown) and Penelope DesBrisay, and the great-grandson of the Rev. Theophilus DesBrisay (the first Anglican minister on Prince Edward Island). Stephen attended school in Charlottetown, including the St. Peter's Church School from 1872-1875. He went on to Kings College in Windsor, Nova Scotia, before studying medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1884. After a year-long internship at a Philadelphia hospital, Stephen returned home to PEI.

Upon returning to the Island, Stephen took over the smallpox hospital and treated the victims of the smallpox epidemic which had hit Charlottetown in 1885. On 7 October 1886, Stephen married Helen (Ellen) Sweeney (1862-1949) of Charlottetown and the couple moved to Tignish where Stephen opened his first medical practice. Their stay in Tignish was not long, however, and they soon moved to Cardigan before settling in Charlottetown in 1888. The couple had nine children: John S., Mary, Harry, Helen, Nora, Margaret, Hilda, Charles, and Stephanie.

Stephen enjoyed a large medical practice in Charlottetown and was active in both the medical and local community. He was a surgeon with the Fourth Prince Edward Island Regiment of Artillery and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During World War I, he served as commanding officer of the Rochead Military Hospital in Halifax. Stephen succeeded the late Dr. Warburton as the registrar of the Medical Council of Prince Edward Island and served as president of the Maritime Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association. During his long career, Stephen was closely associated with both the Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island Hospitals, and was an active member of the local Red Cross Society, Anti-tuberculosis Society, Social Hygiene Council, and the City School Board. Stephen was also involved in politics, and was elected to serve as in the provincial legislature a Conservative representative for Charlottetown in 1911 and 1915.

Dr. S. R. Jenkins developed pnemonia in September 1929. He died 15 September 1929.