 Its reputation was such that Sir Gilbert Elliott, Earl of Minto, stated in a letter to his wife that he would not "trust my throat on Finchley Common in the dark", and victims included great men such as Edmund Burke in 1774.It is said that Ralph Chaplin, the lover of Lady Katherine Ferrers “the Wicked Lady”, was caught on Finchley Common (c.1660).There were certainly robberies committed before this date but the first crime in which Finchley Common is referred to in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey is that committed by Philip Maqueer on John Hansey in April 1690.