The painting depicts the interior of a fisherman's cottage early in the morning. A young woman, her hat flung back over her shoulders, has apparently returned home with no news from the sea, suggesting her husband has died while out fishing. The artist's daughter explained that the family had spent a holiday in June 1870 at Cullercoats on the Northumbrian coast. There her father had learnt much about the life of the fishing community and the dangers it held. He had visited their cottages, studying and 'sketching incessantly'. There had been one particularly harrowing moment when the body of a young fisherman had been carried back into his cottage.
Queen Victoria had seen and admired another painting by Holl in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1869. The Queen commissioned the artist to paint a picture for her, giving him free choice over the subject.

The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1871.

Signed and dated: FRANK HOLL. 1870. A damaged label on the back of the frame, probably in the artist's hand, reads: Frank Holl / painted November 1.