Adventures of Victorian volcano-chaser Tempest Anderson in photographs Tempest Anderson, who was born in York in 1846, was a fearless explorer who discovered how volcanoes erupted An eye surgeon, he became fascinated by vulcanology and travelled the globe to see volcanoes in deadly action A new exhibition in his home city pays tribute to his astonishing explorations, and the photographs he took on them A Victorian action hero who chased volcanoes around the world more than a century ago is honoured in a new exhibition featuring the photographs he risked his life to take. Tempest Anderson was the world's first volcano-chaser, scaling the world's most dangerous slopes in his quest to photograph volcanoes as they erupted. Born in York in 1846, Anderson's extraordinary derring-do took him to the mouth of the most famous volcanoes: he saw Vesuvius, Krakatoa, and, in 1902, the 20th century's worst volcanic eruption. La Soufrière, which devastated the islands of Martinique and St Vincent in the West Indies. Tempest Anderson, the world's first volcano-chaser, risked his life to get photographs like this, of Vesuvius erupting, long before the days of health and safety rules Smoke and lava billowing out of its angry mouth, the volcano on Stromboli in Italy couldn't frighten Tempest Anderson, who got close up to photograph it Anderson put his life on the line time and again to take pictures of fire-spewing volcanoes - resulting in an astonishing collection of 5,000 photographs and artefacts. Now, a century after Anderson died on a boat on his way home from an exploration, the Yorkshire Museum is displaying the works of a brave Yorkshireman whose exploits captured the hearts and minds of the residents of his home city. The museum's curator, Emma Williams, said: 'Tempest Anderson was one of York's pioneering figures and made valuable contributions to medicine, photography and volcanology. It was the latter for which he became well known and he travelled all over the world to see the latest eruptions - sometimes risking his life. He was one of York's most colourful characters.' Born when Queen Victoria was just a few years into her reign, Anderson attended St Peter's School in York and then University College London where he trained as a doctor and specialised in ophthalmology. Returning to his home city, he worked as an ophthalmic surgeon at York County Hospital while developing interests in the then-emerging field of photography and also glaciers. This developed into a fascination with vulcanology, and as his knowledge grew, he set off on trips around the world - always involving long boat journeys - to see the volcanoes at first hand. Anderson, an eye surgeon, was also fascinated by the volcanic aftermath: this image shows the island of St Vincent after it was destroyed by a volcano in 1902 A community torn apart: Anderson, who never married, took this picture of St Pierre, Martinique, after the massive eruption there Devastation on St Vincent: Anderson was the first to discover how the eruption and resulting devastation occurred - he worked it out by studying avalanches His love of volcanoes and incessant thirst to see them erupting, as well as to photograph the aftermath, meant that by 1900 Anderson had visited and photographed most European volcanoes as well as those of Iceland and the US. He made his name in scientific circles with his clear descriptive and photographic records of a "pyroclastic flow" (or "nuie ardente") - terrifyingly rapid and destructive flow of gases and hot rock that flows out of volcanoes. Anderson witnessed this at first hand in 1902 as he watched the hot blast of gases from Mont Pelie that destroyed the port town of St Pierre, on Martinique. He worked out the physics behind this phenomenon and found that it was not dissimilar to a particular type of avalanche that he had seen the devastating effects of in the Alps. The exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum showcases a selection of photographs taken from his vast collection and artefacts similar to those Anderson took on his trips around the world, such as a magic lantern, a pinhole camera, pocket watch and his telephone, which was the first ever telephone in York. Tempest, who never married, died in 1913 on the Red Sea on the way home from his last trip, and was buried at Suez. Anderson never married, devoting himself instead to a life filled with death-defying trips to see the world's deadliest volcanoes - this is Vesuvius near Naples in Italy Scorched earth: This picture, taken in 1902, shows the ruined landscape on St Vincent in the West Indies after the Soufrière volcano erupted there This photograph, one of thousands taken by the Victorian explorer, shows the devastation wreaked by the 1902 eruption which devastated St Vincent and Martinique Around 5,000 photographs, artefacts and maps make up the exhibition about the life and discoveries of York's own action-hero, Tempest Anderson, born there in 1846 Tribute to an action hero from a century ago: The exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum is being staged to mark 100 years since Anderson's death