History of Enterprize and the Settlement of Melbourne Page 1 of 2The tops’l schooner Enterprize is a replica of the ship that brought the first settlers to Melbourne. The original ship, built in Hobart in 1829 by William Pender, carried cargo such as coal and, on at least one occasion, over 300 sheep.
In April 1835, John Pascoe Fawkner purchased Enterprize to search for a suitable settlement site in the Port Phillip District. When Fawkner himself was forced to remain behind by creditors, Enterprize departed George Town, Tasmania on 4 August 1835 under Captain Peter Hunter. Also on board were: Captain John Lancey, Master Mariner (Fawkner’s representative); George Evans, builder; William Jackson and Robert Marr, carpenters; Evan Evans, servant to George Evans; and Fawkner’s servants, Charles Wyse, ploughman, Thomas Morgan, general servant, James Gilbert, blacksmith and his pregnant wife, Mary.
Initially a settlement site was sought around Western Port and on the eastern side of Port Phillip. However, on 15 August 1835, Enterprize entered the Yarra River, and after warping upstream (hauling on ropes attached to the river bank), she moored at the foot of the present day William Street. On the 30 August 1835 the settlers disembarked to build their store and clear land to grow vegetables. Settlement at Melbourne had begun.