In the spring of 1662, the legal machinery of East Lothian turned toward Anna Hunter, a married woman residing in the parish of Midles, Haddington. Her inclusion in the judicial process was not the result of a singular local accusation, but rather a consequence of the cascading denunciations provided by James Welch. Though Welch himself was deemed too young to undergo a formal trial and was consequently held in imprisonment, the testimonies he provided during his detention were treated with considerable gravity by the authorities. The administrative records of the case (C/EGD/532) underscore that the depositions offered by the youth were instrumental in formalizing the suspicion against Anna and many others.
The subsequent legal proceedings against Anna (T/LA/1394) occurred within a period of intense scrutiny regarding the activities of those implicated by Welch. As the authorities moved to synthesize these confessions into actionable charges, Anna found herself caught in a broader wave of accusations that saw multiple individuals in the region identified by the same source. The historical record for this case remains tied to the official recognition of Welch’s statements as a basis for state action, marking Anna’s experience as a notable entry in the documented history of the Haddington witch trials during this particularly fraught season of judicial activity.