suspended payments on 10 May 1866. A run on the bank ensued as panic spread across London, Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich, Derby, and Bristol the following day, with large crowds around Overend Gurney's head offices at 65 Lombard Street. The failure of Overend Gurney was the most significant casualty of the credit crisis, although dozens of banks also failed due to the banking panic. The firm went into liquidation in June 1866. The financial crisis following the collapse saw the bank rate rise to 10 per cent for three months. More than 200 companies, including other banks, failed as a result. The directors of the company were tried at the Old Bailey for fraud based on false statements in the prospectus for the 1865 offering of shares. However, the Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn said that they were guilty only of "grave error" rather than criminal behaviour, and the jury acquitted them. The advisor was found to be guilty. Although some of the Gurneys lost their fortunes in the bank's collapse, the Norwich cousins succeeded in insulating themselves from the bank's problems, and the Gurney bank escaped significant damage to its business and reputation. See also UK company law Gurney's bank Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market, 1873 treatise on finance by Walter Bagehot Notes References "The demise of Overend Gurney", Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin 2016 Q2 Collins, M. (1992) "Overend Gurney crisis, 1866", in Xu, C. (2019) "Reshaping global trade: the immediate and long-term effects of bank failures." Defunct banks of the United Kingdom Banks established in 1800 Banks disestablished in 1866 Economic crises in Europe 19th-century economic history 1866 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1800 establishments in England Gurney family British companies established in 1800