David McConnell Reed M.D. L.R.C.S. (8 August 1810 – December 1890) was a British orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy to become Physician at the East End Homeopathic Dispensary and the Bermondsey Homoeopathic Dispensary.

David McConnell Reed was born in Clarendon, Jamaica in August, 1810, to planter Hugh Reed and his wife Mary Ann McConnell.

David McConnell Reed obtained his Licentiate from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1831. After completing his medical studies in Paris he returned to Jamaica in 1832 where he practiced as an orthodox physician.

In 1835 Reed was invited by merchants in Haiti to set up in practice on the island. He remained there for the next five years. In 1840 he relocated to Puerto Rico, and thereafter to Havana, where he obtained further medical qualifications.

McConnell Reed was granted a Licenciate in Medicine in Havanna in 1841, and his M.D. in Havanna 1848. His foreign M.D. was a problem, however, for the new General Medical Council, and this qualification was omitted on his entry in the 1861 medical register and was still not recognized in the 1874 medical directory.

According to David McConnell Reed he returned to the UK in 1842. In January, 1843, Reed married Caroline Elizabeth Le Neve (1818 – 1881) in Camberwell, Surrey. They had six children: Caroline Virginia Le Neve Reed (1843 – 1863), David McConnell Reed (1846 – 1868), Granville Adolphus Le Neve McConnell Reed (1848 – c.1876), Edwin Gustavus Le Neve Reed (1851 – 1882), Constantia Gertrude Le Neve Reed (1854 – 1895), Joshua Adrian Le Neve Reed (1860 – 1891). They appear to have separated in the 1860s and in 1875 David McConnell Reed married Susannah Harriet Hine and they had two further children, Esther Harriet Hine Reed (1866 – 1929) and Marie Louise Reed (1871 – 1947).

On 26 January, 1855, McConnell Reed was appointed physician to the Crimean Railway Expedition by War Minister and homeopathic supporter, Henry Pelham, 5th Duke of Newcastle. However, this appointment did not last as Reed argued with his commanding officer and disobeyed orders over a staff appointment. He was subsequently dismissed from service and responded by soliciting support for his case from homeopaths. Reed published a book defending his actions entitled Medical Despotism, arguing that he had been unfairly treated on account of his being an homoeopathist. The Monthly Homoeopathic Review even included a full-page request for subscriptions to help compensate for Reed’s lost earnings following his dismissal. However, once the facts surrounding Reed’s dismissal became known the Monthly Homoeopathic Review published a full account of the affair, distancing the journal and, by association, British homeopathy from his misconduct.

He resided at 33 East India Road, London, at Hahnemann House, Wellington Road, Limehouse, at Denmark House, 26 Kings Place, Commercial Road E., London, Hahnemann Villa, 18 Brighton Road, Southampton, at Beech Grove Villa, Waterloo Road, Wellington, Somerset, and finally at 4 Belgrave Terrace, Ilfracombe, Devon, where he died in December 1890.

McConnell Reed wrote articles for a range of medical publications, including various homeopathic publications.

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Robert Rhodes Reed M.D. M.R.C.S. (18 May 1821 – 13 September 1897) was an homoeopathic surgeon who practiced in Kings Lynn, Norfolk. Robert Rhodes Reed was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire. He obtained his M.D. from Western Homeopathic College, Cleveland, USA and since 1862 had been a member of the British Homeopathic Society. As with David McConnell Reed (No apparent relation) Robert Rhodes Reed’s foreign qualification – from an homeopathic medical college no less – was not recognized by the British Medical Council. Consequently, his entry in the medical register did not include his M.D. qualification.