The emigrant ship Northfleet was anchored near Dungeness, England, when the Spanish steamship Murillo struck it in January 1873. Northfleet sank rapidly, and more than 290 people died amid confusion over the boats. Many passengers were railway workers and their families travelling to Tasmania.

The wreck produced numerous Victorian ballads and commemorative poems portraying migration interrupted before the ocean crossing had truly begun. Poets dwelt on the captain's conduct, inadequate rescue and the contrast between domestic hopes and anonymous death at sea.