Rare blueprints found of Scott's expedition ship Discovery The Discovery Point visitor centre, in Dundee, has expressed an interest in showcasing the blueprints, which are yet to be officially valued. The blueprints, believed to have been drawn in about 1899, were owned by Jean Cannon after they had been kept by her late father Harry Smith. Mr Smith, who died in 2005 aged 85, worked as a draughtsman at Goole Shipyard in Yorkshire from 1936 until it closed in the early 1980s. The blueprints had been sent to England from Goole's sister shipyard in Dundee, where the Discovery was built. When the Goole shipyard was being mothballed, staff were told to burn all of the company records. But Mr Smith recognised the blueprints as being of "historical importance" and took them home for safekeeping, where they were kept in an attic until his death, when they were passed to Mrs Cannon, 52. The mother-of-one, of Barton-Upon-Humber, knew they were of historical interest but had no idea of their real significance until she enrolled in a part-time history course at the University of Hull earlier this year. She told her lecturer, maritime history expert Dr Robb Robinson, who has written extensively on Hull's links to polar exploration, who expressed astonishment at the find. "I couldn't believe it when I was told how important they were as I had no idea," she told The Daily Telegraph. They are absolutely beautiful. I had no idea how significant they were. Had it not been for my father and his foresight they would have been lost for ever. I am a bit overwhelmed to think that my family have been the guardians of something of such great historical importance that has just been sitting there gathering dust. The family is now deciding what to do with the documents and are to get them independently valued. They are considering an offer from the Discovery centre, which is operated by the Dundee Heritage Trust, to offer the plans on loan. Dr Robinson, 61, who has also researched wider maritime history, said: "Discovery was the vessel that was used to launch the heroic age of polar exploration. There has been an increased appetite for all things related to Scott and polar in recent years and these blueprints have such an aura about them. Julie Millerick, the curator at Discovery Point, said the centre was "very excited" about the find because they shed light on its construction. "We don't have any of the plans here so it is quite a significant find and we would love to put them on display," she said. To have the original plans would be great as it would fill in the gaps of our knowledge about the ship. The Discovery expedition, between 1901 to 1904, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic, since James Clark Ross's voyage about six decades earlier. Organised on a large scale under a joint committee, comprised of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, it launched the Antarctic careers of Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton. This year is the century anniversary of Scott's last fateful expedition on Terra Nova, when he died near the South Pole in 1912.