Du Cane Hut is the oldest structure on the Cradle Mt – Lake St Clair Overland Track. It was built in 1910 by Patrick Joseph ‘Paddy’ Hartnett.  Paddy was born on 7^th November 1875, one of 14 children, to parents Patrick and Mary and lived his early life at Quamby Brook, just outside the township of Deloraine.

During his adult years, in addition to snaring and hunting, Hartnett was also a keen prospector and a successful pioneer tourist guide. Popular and well-liked, he was widely regarded by his peers as a talented bushman and skilled axeman.   Du Cane Hut was one of his highland bases used as accommodation for his tourism venture and the utilization of pack horses for his guests.  

Built almost entirely from hand split king billy pine, the boards were applied horizontally as opposed to the more conventional vertical slab construction of huts from that time. (Du Cane Hut was enlarged during the 1930s).

In 1915 at the age of 38, Hartnett married a Waratah lass, Lucy Hanson, who was 10 years his junior. Eight children were born into the family, and Lucy remained a faithful but long-suffering wife through many turbulent years of their marriage.  Paddy Hartnett, for all his strengths, bush skills and pioneering business acumen, had one trait which was his undoing on many occasions – having discovered a liking for alcohol in his early twenties – he was an alcoholic. With his later life marred by strokes, alcoholic stupors, hospitalization, and repeat admissions to the New Town Infirmary, Paddy Hartnett passed away on 26^th September 1944, succumbing to cancer just a few weeks shy of his 69^th birthday.

He was a remarkable man in many ways, and his name is indelibly etched into Tasmanian mountain history. He is immortalized forever in the Tasmanian wilderness at places such as Paddys Nut, Hartnett Rivulet and Hartnett Falls. And of course, Du Cane Hut, now recorded on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, is a monument associated with Hartnett as a forerunner to the modern-day wilderness lodge.

For two consecutive years, MHPS was involved with the conservation works on the Du Cane Hut. Over the 2011 Easter break, members of the MHPS, at the invitation of PWS, assisted with the completion of the vital task of replacing the four existing tension ties with upgraded and improved anchors. The ties consisted of 6mm wire rope, compatible-sized clamps, turnbuckles and shackles connected to new ground anchors, securely concreted into position on the uphill side of the Hut. During May 2012, MHPS members again assisted with a scheduled works programme. The decayed northern wall stumps were replaced using king billy pine stumps similar to the original foundations. The hut had developed a considerable lean, due to a combination of the rotten stumps and poor wall bracing. Rather than attempt to straighten the hut, it was decided to stabilise the foundations to halt any further movement. It was an interesting fact that the perimeter walls stood alone on their respective stumps and the floor bearers were not structurally attached to them. This possibly indicates that the shell of the building was erected initially and the floor was placed within the hut afterwards.