Historical writing prompts

Historical fiction is research plus rumour. Anchor the prompt in a real year and let your group fill the corners history left dark.

1. A 1920s telephone operator listens in on calls that predict the stock market crash.
2. A WW2 codebreaker realises one of her own messages is being sent back to her.
3. A medieval cook is asked to poison the queen and instead writes her a recipe book.
4. A Roman legionnaire is left behind in Britain and decides to start a school.
5. A Victorian governess receives letters from her future self.
6. A 1960s air hostess witnesses the same passenger on flights years apart.
7. A Tudor playwright is hired to write a play that will get someone executed.
8. A 1980s tabloid photographer captures something that wasn't there.