In October 1631, Thomas Murray, a married man residing in the parish of Inverkeithny, became the subject of a formal ecclesiastical and legal inquiry. Although Inverkeithny fell geographically under the jurisdiction of the Turriff presbytery, the records concerning his case were processed through the Strathbogie presbytery, marking a significant moment of institutional scrutiny within the region of Aberdeen.
The documentation preserved under case reference C/EGD/2251 captures the initiation of proceedings against Thomas during a period of heightened sensitivity regarding supernatural transgressions in rural Scotland. While the specific nature of the allegations leveled against him remains obscured by the limitations of the extant archive, the formal recording of his case serves as a testament to the complex intersection of local community oversight and the broader jurisdictional shifts that characterized the witch trials of the early seventeenth century.