Hertfordshire Murders by Nicholas Connell

Author:Nicholas Connell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780750952859
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2013-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

13

MURDER AT THE

ASYLUM

Abbots Langley, 1899

In October 1870 a new lunatic asylum opened in Hertfordshire. Leavesden Asylum was just north of Watford in Abbots Langley. It was large enough to house 2,000 patients but none of them were from Hertfordshire. The asylum was run by the Metropolitan Asylum Board and was for London imbeciles. In 1899 one of the patients was murdered by eating a poisoned cake that had been sent to her by post. The final outcome of the case created nationwide controversy. Thanks to the recent release of Home Office papers the full story can now be told.

Caroline Ansell was admitted to Leavesden Asylum in October 1894. In 1899 she was twenty-six years old and still an inmate in the asylum. The beginning of the year saw two disturbing occurrences. On 22 February Caroline received a parcel in the post containing tea and sugar. When she made a cup of tea with it the taste was so bitter that she threw the rest down a sink. Then two days later a letter addressed to Caroline arrived that read:

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