In 1850 James Quilter Rumball moved his home for the mentally insane from Oster Hills, St Albans, to Harpenden Hall. Details of the arrangements for licensing a house for the reception of the insane - listing the justices of the peace and doctors who were to see the house was properly run were posted in the Hertfordshire Mercury. (Full details here). The press cutting also included details for a House for the Insane run by James Smith at Much Hadham.
For further information see Early Mad Houses in St Albans and Harpenden and The Patients at Harpenden Hall, Harpenden, 1851-1901
