Sydney Cove first appears in the supplemental pages to Lloyd's Register for 1806, which gives her owner as Plummer, her master as Edwards, and her trade as London-South Seas.

[4] Under the command of William Edwards, she sailed from Falmouth, England on 11 January 1807, and arrived at Port Jackson on 18 June.

Sydney Cove and her boats moved to the Molyneux – the modern Clutha River Mouth – where they attacked and killed another chief.

At Waipapa Point one of Sydney Cove's sealing gangs landed and proceeded overland to the mouth of the Mataura, where Māori surprised and killed them.

Sydney Cove returned to London on 18 August 1810 with either 8 or 18 crew members,[4] having ignited an ongoing blood feud between sealers and Māori.

[10] Issues of Lloyd's Register from 1810 to 1814 show Sydney Cove, with M'Lauren, master, trading between London and New South Wales.

[10] In the 1815 volume of Lloyd's Register, Sydney Cove appears twice, first with a new owner, Morrison, and a new master, Hutchinson.