The Bodley has this version of "The Ship That Never Returned" (Johnson Ballads 1518).

  The Ship that never returned.
  
  On a bright summer's morning when the wave were ripping,
    With a soft and sighing breeze,
  A ship set sail with a precious burden
    To a port beyond the seas;
  There were fond farewells and loving signals,
    From hearts that love still burned
  And they sailed away with a smile and a blessing,
    In the ship that never returned.
  
          Chorus:--
  It never returned, it never returned,
    And its fate is still unlearned;
  From that day to this they've been watching, watching,
    For the ship that has never returned.
  
  Said a pale-faced boy to his loving mother,
    Let me cross the wide, wide sea,
  For they tell me that in a foreign land,
    There is health and wealth for me?
  So the mother listened with fond affection,
    Tho' her heart still to him yearn'd,
  But she sent him forth with a mother's blessing,
    In the ship that never returned.
  
  Only one more trip, said that gallant sailor,
    As he kissed his fond young wife,
  Only one more bag of that golden treasure,
    And we'll settle down for life;
  Yes, we'll leave this place for a little cottage,
    And enjoy the wealth we earned,
  She never thought that her love would perish,
    In that ship that never returned.
  
  T. Brooks, Great Ann Street Bristol.

No date estimate is given, but "The new voter's song" was printed on the same sheet. Given the nature of this song, it would have been a recent one, with a very limited life. I'd be curious if those more intimately acquainted with British history could piece together the clues in this song to arrive at the most probable date for its publication. My best guess is 1866 or 7, just prior to Gladstone's first ministry, but this doesn't seem to allow enough time for folk evolution to produce the above version.