I recorded my grandmother, Annie Crook, singing this very song about 1976. She learnt it from a work colleague in 1912 in the Bendon Valley Laundry in Wandsworth, south London (England). To me, it has the melodramatic feel of a Victorian music hall song, though this thread is virtually the first mention I've found of it. The only other mention (found ten minutes ago!)is www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/amyford.htm. According to this, the Somerset singer Amy Ford learnt it from a Londoner stationed locally in the Second World War, so I'd tend to go for a London music hall origin.