John Pascoe Fawkner bought the ship in April 1835 for use in his forthcoming settlement activity in Port Phillip Bay, in what was then the southern part of New South Wales.

However, the delivery of the vessel was delayed several weeks as the Enterprize was engaged in delivering coal in Newcastle, NSW by the ship owner's agent.

On 30 August 1835 the settlers disembarked to build their store and clear land to grow vegetables, and the Enterprize returned to George Town.

Though legally Fawkner and Batman and Wedge, and their respective parties, were considered trespassers on Crown land, they remained in the new settlement, which came to be called Melbourne.

She eventually disappeared from the Hobart shipping register, having been wrecked on the bar of the Richmond River in northern New South Wales, on 5 July 1847, with the loss of two lives.

The true fate of the Enterprize remained uncertain for approximately 100 years due to confusion with a similarly named ship.