"No panic was so fatal to the great middle class... Hundreds of families were entirely ruined and thousands were seriously involved in difficulties and were there by much reduced. there was no important town in England but beheld the fall of local magnates. Unfortunate and deluded persons found themselves saddled with enormous liabilities in the form of calls on shares for which they had applied in the hope of selling at a profit. Thousands of writs were issued to cajole or compel them into payment."

Reference:
Bates, Stephen - Two Nations: Britain in 1846. (London, Head of Zeus, 2014) p173