In 1818 a replacement toll bridge was opened over the River Liffey in Dublin. A couple of years earlier while the new bridge was under construction, tolls were still collected for use of the temporary bridge. A halfpenny was well beyond the means of one traveller.
“AN EMBARRASSMENT REMOVED.–A Dublin paper says–‘A few days ago, a poor man expressed a wish that he had one halfpenny to pay the toll for passing the temporary foot bridge, opposite Church-street. A young lad (who appeared about 16 or 17 years of age) hearing the poor man’s lamentation, and having but one halfpenny to pay for himself, enquired of the toll collector if a person carrying a load over the bridge paid no more than if he had none. He was answered in the negative. The boy then took the poor man on his back and passed over the bridge, to the great admiration of all who witnessed the transaction.'”
Stamford Mercury, 30 August 1816.