In 1644, Helen Thomson, a resident of the burgh of Queensferry in Linlithgow, found herself at the centre of a formal legal proceeding under the designation C/EGD/2339. During this period of heightened religious and judicial intensity in Scotland, the prosecution of witchcraft was a matter of state concern, overseen by both local authorities and the central justiciary. As a woman living in a maritime community on the Firth of Forth, Helen was caught within the machinery of a legal system that treated such accusations with the utmost gravity, leading to her case being brought before the courts for trial (T/JO/518).
The records concerning Helen are sparse but final in their conclusion. Following the judicial process conducted against her, the legal proceedings culminated in a sentence of execution. By the authority of the court, Helen was put to death in 1644, marking the end of her involvement in the formal witch trials that characterized this era of Scottish history.