A Tale of Sevenpence Ha'penny

True story. Based on the experience of an early Governor of the new Penal Settlement at Moreton Bay, Queensland.

‘I would like, good sirs,

To make it known,

Whether you heed or not,

That the Treasury here at Moreton Bay

Scarcely helped a lot.

A miserable sevenpence ha’penny

Hardly seems enough,

A question here would seem sincere;

How to divide it up?’

 

‘A penny for roads to suit our needs,

A tuppenny bridge or two?

Three ha’pence worth of food should amply

Satisfy the convict crew.

A penny to spend on Government House

Is all I really dare,

And tuppence I’ll leave in the Treasury

To supply us with coal for the year.’

 

‘I would like, good sirs,

To make it known,

Whether you heed or not,

That a thief has entered the Treasury

And taken the blooming lot.

The fault is mine, I must admit

I should have thought to guard it,

But such a sum had gone to my head

And left me quite retarded.’

 

David Lewis Paget