In the winter of 1630, Jean Thomesone, a widow of upper socioeconomic standing residing in Bigend, Dumfries, found herself at the centre of a grave legal conflict. On 9 February of that year, formal accusations of witchcraft were brought against her, alongside those directed at her own mother. The primary accuser in this matter was Jean’s brother-in-law, a development that suggests deep-seated familial strife or disputes regarding inheritance and estate management often associated with women of her elevated status.
The substance of the charges against Jean was particularly severe, as she was accused of causing the death of her husband through maleficium. While the records C/EGD/1154 and the associated trial documents T/JO/2187 and T/LA/675 do not provide the specific testimonies or the final verdict, they establish that the legal proceedings were initiated within the context of these family allegations. As a member of a prominent household, Jean’s case highlights how personal grievances within landed families could rapidly escalate into formal witchcraft prosecutions under the statutes of early seventeenth-century Scotland.